Alter
by Jerod2447
Summary: This is what you have been waiting for, the sequel to Ravage, Alter. Who or what is Kenovo? What kind of threat will the gang face now? Rated T for violence. Thanks for reading.
1. Title and Prologue

Alter

* * *

_The day we get rid of evil,_

_Is the day we get rid of free will._

* * *

Prologue

Kenovo fell to his knees and was breathing hard. Being through something so terrifying and knowing you caused it tended to raise your pulse a bit. His trio of hearts each beat quickly. _I made these things… these monsters. How could I have been so stupid?! Sana, I failed you. It is my fault you are gone. _Heavy remorse, sadness, and intense regret filled his heart. Tears fell in abundance.

He heard a distant moan. Kenovo stood in a large, mostly dark room. Its walls were coated in metal and pipes. Unlike most of the titanic structure, this room had little blood in it; mostly because few people knew about it. If they did, they would have flocked here.

Light of different colors danced around the room, cast by captured portals. Each one was a different mixture of colors, denoting the different worlds they each went to.

Kenovo eyed the one to his right. It did cast a bright white/golden color and he yearned to enter it. _Home, I really do wish to go there. _Tears came to his eyes as he knew he could not go there and expect to live. He then looked at a red portal. _I remember you, that is where I dumped them. All those years ago, I left them there._ He took a few steps closer to the red one. _I will make this right, I will. First off, I need to make sure these monsters do not leave this world._ He approached a control panel; on it were dozens of blinking buttons and switches. He pushed a series of buttons and one by one; thick, metal shutters sealed around all but one of the portals.

As the shutters closed around the golden portal, Kenovo felt another wave of sadness. _Someday, maybe I can go home… someday._ With a mechanical thud, the only color of light was red.

Kenovo pushed a short series of buttons on the panel and the shutters began to close on the red portal. He took a deep breath before running and jumping into it. _I will restore the imbalances I have left in your universe._

* * *

_Well, well, what do you all think?_

* * *

Also:

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	2. Chapter 1, Restoration

I am back! Along with some familiar faces...

* * *

Chapter 1, Restoration

* * *

"What happens now?" Fen asked through a stream of tears. He was sitting next to Ratchet's body.

Leo had ceased his berserking and had started grieving heavily. He didn't respond to Fen.

Atlas still had Rykk's head lying limply in his lap. Rykk's body had changed into that of a young man with black hair. Atlas, like the others, was enveloped in grief. He was able to speak somewhat coherently. "Oi don't know…" he wiped some tears away and looked at Calamity's body. "…Dat bloody psychopath… es foinally dead." He then looked down at Rykk and sniffled. "'E need ta give dem proper burials…"

Leo sat up; his missing leg prevented him from walking. He actually was able to speak. "We need… to get out of here…"

Fen nodded. "I'll send Ferra with a note, the Guards will come." He wiped his face clear of tears and took out of his Utility; the pen and paper he used to send messages. He wrote the note and attached the note to Ferra's leg before sending her off.

* * *

Carmelita was in shock when she felt Sly go limp. "No… it can't be… SLY! Wake up!" She lightly slapped his face but he didn't respond. She wouldn't accept that he had died. "SLY! Come on! Wake UP!"

Bentley and Murray entered the room a few seconds after Sly's final breath.

Bentley put his hands over his mouth as tears began to pour, "N-no…"

Murray, like Carmelita, refused to believe that Sly had passed on. "Come on Sly! Get up! We have a bunch more things to do!" His eyes too, became wet.

Kaden dropped the dagger fell back onto his bed. He was exhausted; mentally, physically, and emotionally. After just a minute, he passed out.

Carmelita propped Sly's head up in her arms as reality hit her and she began to grieve.

Bones and Clank came hovering into the room. Both AIs were distressed upon seeing Sly's condition. Bones simply looked away; he was used to seeing people die.

Clank's hologram showed great distress and then, he and Bones both showed even more despair.

"Guys…" Bones spoke, Clank looked too upset. "…Calamity is dead…"

"Well, that's good…" Bentley responded.

"…So are..." Bones look really torn up, "…Rykk and Ratchet."

Clank left the room; he couldn't have looked more upset. "Ratchet… please no… don't leave me…"

Bones also left the room and looked just as upset as Clank, "Rykk… I promised your father I'd take care of you… I failed him and you."

Some nurses and attendants entered the room. In a comforting manner they had Carmelita release Sly's body. As they lifted him, she gave him a light kiss on his forehead. "I love you ringtail…"

The nurses gently put Sly on a stretcher and wheeled him down to the morgue.

* * *

The Guards came with an Atmo and they loaded Ratchet and Rykk's bodies onto it. Fen, Arco, and Atlas helped Leo onto the craft.

They sat in the passenger section while Leo was being looked at by a medic.

"So many loives lost because of one, bloody psychopath… so many…" Atlas recollected sadly.

Fen nodded, "This world is cruel," he sniffled, "I lost both of my brothers because of him."

Arco sighed, "This outcome sucks."

Sounds of movement came from the room that Ratchet and Rykk were in.

Atlas stood up, "Now what?" He raised his McVoy pistol, just in case. He approached the door and opened it. Fen and Arco were right behind him.

* * *

Carmelita followed the nurses as they wheeled Sly away. She was followed by Bentley and Murray. The trio were silent as they walked.

Once in the morgue, they set Sly's covered body on one of three, prep tables. The mortician entered.

"I am sorry for your loss. If you would give me a minute, I will then allow you all as much time as you need."

Carmelita nodded. "We'll be outside." At that, she Bentley, and Murray waited outside the morgue.

It was only a minute later when they heard the mortician yell. He sounded frightened.

Carmelita ran in.

* * *

"Ugh… so this is what it's like to come back to life…" Rykk groaned as he sat up.

"Dang, feels like I've been asleep for weeks…" Ratchet stretched.

Atlas put his pistol away and nearly fainted from disbelief. He rubbed his eyes before being shoved out of the way by Fen.

The young, red furred lombax ran up to Ratchet, "RATCHET!" Tears of joy began to pour as he hugged him.

Ratchet smiled and hugged Fen back.

Atlas, once he made sure he wasn't seeing things, ran up to Rykk and hugged him; "How… how es dis possible?!"

Rykk chuckled as he returned Atlas' embrace. "Long story, let's just say; death can't have us just yet." He grinned and looked at his torso. His wounds were all healed, though there was still plenty of blue blood on his chest and stomach, the wounds were gone.

Ratchet too, once he released Fen's grasp, saw the spots where he had been impaled, were gone. "We're back guys," Ratchet grinned as he spoke.

* * *

Carmelita didn't register what lay before her eyes, it was impossible.

Sly was sitting up on the table and looked quite embarrassed. He held a white blanket over his torso and the mortician was up against the wall. The poor guy looked in shock.

"Can you hand me my clothes please? At least my pants?" Sly sounded like he had already asked this question.

Carmelita ran to Sly and hugged him tightly. She didn't speak, just embraced.

Sly returned the hug.

Both Bentley and Murray ran in as well.

"What… what happened Sly?! You're back!" Murray exclaimed.

Sly chuckled. "Well, when Rykk and Ratchet get back…"

"They're alive too?!" Bentley exclaimed.

Sly nodded and continued. "…When they get back, we can explain as best we can. Now, uh, can I please have my clothes? Also, you may want to make sure he's ok." He pointed to the mortician.

The mortician still looked stunned.

* * *

Well, whatcha think? I know it was a bit on the short side.

Stay tuned!

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	3. Chapter 2, Situation

Hey everyone! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2, The Situation

* * *

Everyone was overjoyed at the resurrection of Rykk, Ratchet, and Sly.

They all met up in Kaden's room, he was still out.

Leo was getting fitted for a prosthetic leg and would join them when finished.

"My second time visiting The Outskirts of heaven," Rykk chuckled. "It was amazing seeing dad and everyone else." He smiled wide as he remembered.

Ratchet smiled, "I'm glad you got to see your loved ones Rykk." He hugged Rykk. "It was an amazing three weeks. And I got to see Mom and Talwyn!"

Sly smiled wide as well, "I can't believe I got to see my parents as well! It was astounding!"

Bentley looked up, "It's amazing to have you all back, but why did you come back? How?"

Sly sighed, "Apparently we have some more business that we need to deal with."

"Business?" Carmelita asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Ratchet started, "Apparently we need to find someone by the name of Kenovo. He's the one behind the Beings and Bonded. We were told that there are many other Beings out there, some worse than Calamity."

Sly nodded in agreement, "It seems that Kenovo is not from this universe…"

"What?" Kaden asked as he sat up. He moaned as he sat up, "I must have been dreaming. Did you say something about someone from another universe?"

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, all we know about him is that he's from a different universe and he made the Beings. We also are supposed to have the ability to find portals."

Ratchet shrugged and shook his head, "I don't feel any different, other than being alive that is."

"Yeah," Sly agreed, "I don't feel different either, other than being a Bonded again." He teleported around the room a few times before stopping; and leaning against the wall. He grinned, "I do love doing that." He chuckled.

Carmelita hugged Sly, "I didn't know how I was gonna live without you Sly."

Sly hugged her back, "Now you won't have to."

Arco sat against the wall and thought, _I am glad that they are back… but why not Draxis? _She felt a tear fall. _I don't understand…_

Fen smiled, "So what do we do now brother?"

Ratchet chuckled, "I would like some chow…" Ratchet's belly rumbled and he blushed.

Rykk grinned, "Nice Rat…" Rykk's stomach then rumbled even louder than Ratchet's and everyone busted out laughing. Rykk's expression was a priceless mix of embarrassment, hunger, humor, and happiness.

Atlas laughed, "Dat's Roikk's belly for ya, 'e es de hungriest person Oi know."

Rykk rubbed the furry back of his neck, "Yeah, I don't get hungry often…"

"But when he does;" Bones interrupted; "His hunger can seem endless."

Rykk's gut growled again, "Uh-huh… where's the cafeteria?" He said as he quickly left the room looking for it.

Kaden grinned. "If any of you guys want to eat, I'd suggest you get it before he does."

Everyone looked at each other before running out the door.

The group took up a table; Rykk had piled high, four trays of food. Despite his intense hunger, the rest of the group managed to each get a tray. Once Rykk began to eat, he didn't talk. His manner of eating was borderline disgusting. Bits of food were flying, sauces and crumbs surrounded his mouth. He ate fast; loud sounds of gulping noises came from the Bonded.

Ratchet hadn't noticed until then how sloppy Rykk's table manners were. He was also hungry and didn't say anything.

Leo and Atlas also seemed unfazed by Rykk's uncouth manner.

Sly did raise a brow. "Geeze Rykk, I was hungry too after waking up but you don't need to eat so wildly."

Rykk swallowed a bite before looking at Sly. "What do you mean?"

Carmelita did a face-palm, "Your face is covered in food and you're eating like the world is gonna run out of it."

Rykk sighed and wiped his face off. "Sorry, my hunger drove me nuts."

Atlas chuckled, "Roikk's got a wild belly. Most of de toime e's foine, but when 'e gits hungry; 'e'll eat anytin 'e can."

Bentley chuckled, "What do you mean by anything?"

Leo grinned, "Once he got hungry at a restaurant while we were waiting for our orders. He ate most of the silverware on the table…"

Murray busted out laughing, "He ate silverware?!"

Rykk nodded, "It actually tasted pretty good."

Carmelita gave Rykk a confused look. "You mean to say that you actually digested silverware?"

Rykk nodded again.

"E' can digest nearly anytin. His hunger ain't common though. E' usually gits hungry loike once a month." Atlas stated.

"Ah," Ratchet replied.

"We have to figure out how to find this Kenovo, and how to find the portals." Sly said, "Other than that, I have no idea where to start."

Kaden came in; he was in a wheelchair being pushed by a nurse. "You all can stay at my place. Since Calamity is dead, and Rykk was technically killed too, the Chiefs should be satisfied and Rykk will be safe."

Ratchet nodded, "Thanks, but you're staying here dad. You are still beat pretty good."

Kaden was about to protest but realized he was still a wreck. He sighed and nodded back, "Alright, but I'm not staying here any longer than I need to. So what's on the menu?"

Rykk belched loudly.

Sly chuckled, "Most of the food is in Rykk's belly."

Kaden chuckled, "Figured."

"I'll have the cooks make you something," the nurse said as she pushed him up to the gang's table. After Kaden was set, she went to the kitchen.

* * *

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location on Agrona…

A man entered a small, guarded room, he was meeting someone. There were four; big guards stationed outside the room, none of them looked at the man as he entered.

He was anxious but managed to hide it as he sat across a table from a lombax. The lombax had a calm, polite demeanor. His silver fur was accented by dark blue stripes and blue-grey eyes.

The man knew better, the lombax looked polite and kind, but could be quite cold blooded.

Leaning against the wall was a guitar, it looked old but well kept.

On the table was a bottle of a fine wine called Cobalt Blue. Like its name, it had a rich, dark blue color and was made of a type of grape local to the planet. The lombax was sipping on a glass and was pouring one as the man sat down. "This drink is quite exquisite," the lombax stated, "It leaves such a rich, yet subtle taste on the palate." He took another sip and savored it for a second before swallowing and savoring the aftertaste. "Mmmmm…" He licked his lips, "Amazing, you should try it." The lombax's voice was seemingly warm and disconcerting.

The man still kept his alertness up; he wasn't here to have a drink. He did comply and took a sip of the expensive wine. It had rich, fruity taste with a slightly dark note to it. Its aftertaste was deep yet not overwhelmingly so. The man looked up, "This is fine wine indeed."

The lombax chuckled, "Indeed, and I must say, you have done commendable work for us…"

The man tensed up slightly, "Thank you."

The lombax nodded, "…however, recent events have forced us to have second thoughts about you." His voice still had the warm note to it and even sounded a bit sad. Though the man couldn't tell, he knew that the Lombax was probably faking.

"What do you mean?" He asked; trying to play dumb.

The lombax set his glass down. "The heist you pulled in Columbia plaza, you were supposed to have gotten over 250,000 Gold Icons. Yet, when you came back, there was only 200,000."

The man shrugged, "There was less there than we initially thought."

The lombax chuckled and nodded, "If this were a one-time thing, yes, but…" he almost sounded happy as he pulled out some papers. "…I found out that the past four heists you pulled were all under the expected take."

_Crud, how did he find out?_ The man thought._ All of my associates were supposed to cover this. They wouldn't expose me willingly, they're quite loyal. Well, as loyal as thieves go…_ "That is not true," The man retorted, "I would never betray Yates or the Attero."

The lombax's expression dropped, as if someone had flipped a switch. His face went from warm, friendly, and charming; to a dead cold, studying, and uncaring look. "In total, you have swindled Mr. Yates out of almost 400,000 Gold Icons."

Seeing the lombax's face drop; made the man stop from protesting and he realized he was in serious trouble. He was then confused as he saw the lombax grab his guitar and start singing.

The music was calm, upbeat, and almost soothing. However, the lyrics, given the situation, were quite ominous to the man. The lombax's voice was smooth and just as soothing as the guitar.

_Do you think I'm not aware of what you're saying?_

_Or why you're saying it?_

_Is it hard to keep me where you want me staying?_

_Don't go on betraying,_

_Don't make promises you can't keep_

_We had a chance to find it_

_Our time was now or never_

_You promised me things that I need_

_But then the things behind it_

_Took away the chance forever_

_You're telling me lies in your sleep_

_Do you think I'm not aware of what you're saying?_

_Or why you're saying it?_

_Is it hard to keep me where you want me staying?_

_Don't go on betraying,_

_Don't make promises you can't keep_

_Don't make promises you can't keep_

The man became more and more tense as the song was played. He contemplated running but knew that if he did, the guards would catch him. He knew better than to try and take on the lombax, he had no choice but to sit and listen.

Once he had finished his song, the lombax set the guitar down. As he did, he gave the man a knowing, chilling, and dark grin.

The man took a deep breath and knew what was about to happen. Still, he asked, "Now what?"

* * *

Ok, so I know this is again, a bit of a short chapter but I thought it fitting to stop here.

So, what is going on?

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	4. Chapter 3, A Proposal

_Well this is another short chapter, but a lot happens._

_Thanks for reading, enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 3, A Proposal

* * *

The lombax with silver fur and blue stripes left the room. He gave a nod to the guards outside and they went inside. They came out with the body of the man; a piece of wire was around his throat. "Sorry that your greed spoiled your relations with the Attero Mr. Jensen." The lombax remarked.

A member of the Attero approached him. "I have a letter for you sir, it is from Yates."

One of the lombax's eyebrows moved up as the guy handed him a letter.

_Hello Kyle Troy,_

_It would seem an old friend of ours has returned. Though Calamity killed him; it would seem Rykk has returned. One of our men spotted him and his gang there while he was visiting his mother. I had one of my men confirm it, he is there._

_I don't know how or why, but he has come back. He and his group must be dealt with, soon. Catch them while they're unaware. I will pay you a fortune to eliminate him, swiftly. He and his gang of misfits could really cause problems for us._

_Should you fail and live, you will answer to Reap. He will be assisting you as well. Meet him in the alley outside the hospital. He will be wearing a hood and mask._

_Good luck Kyle,_

_Yates_

Kyle's pulse went up a bit and he thought to himself. _Reap? He's sending Reap?!_ The lombax felt a shiver run down his spine. _Though, Rykk and his friends could be a big problem…_ He sighed _…not like I have much of a choice anyways. Since this is Rykk, I will need someone like Reap. His friends aren't pushovers either… Reap could be quite helpful, as long as I keep him happy that is._ Kyle took a deep breath. "Killing two Bonded and their super powered friends with Reap… This will be interesting…"

* * *

Rykk leaned back in his seat, his belly was quite round and he unbuttoned his crimson shirt.

Ratchet just shook his head with a grin.

Carmelita could only sigh, "Boys will be boys I guess…"

Sly gave a wry grin, "You said it Carm." He then lifted his shirt, showing his grey, furry round gut as well. Sly hadn't eaten nearly as much as Rykk, but it was more than the others.

Kaden chuckled, "You guys remind me of when I was in the Guard, now we really chowed down. But I guess going through Training made us burn a ton of calories."

Leo nodded, "Yeah, my Dragon mentor was just as hard as a Drill Sargent. He wasn't even in the military either."

"I bet; you Dragons are tough. Well guys, I am beat. You all can stay at my place. Just make sure it's still standing." Kaden then looked at Rykk and then Ratchet. "And Ratchet, make sure Rykk eats normal food, and not silverware and the like."

Ratchet chuckled. "I'll try dad."

Leo chuckled too and looked down at his prosthetic leg. It was a dark, gun-metal grey, with amethyst highlights on it. He sighed and made it move up and down. "At least that monster is gone…"

Sly put a hand on Leo's shoulder, "Sorry Leo."

Leo nodded, "Like I said, glad he is gone."

An short time later, the gang headed to Kaden's home/mansion.

On the way, Sly had to run an errand. "Hey guys, I'm gonna grab some snacks and some fresh food for the place. I'll meet you guys back at Kaden's." With that, the master thief left, with a mischievous and happy grin.

"Could use some more food…" Rykk stated.

Carmelita groaned, "How can you be hungry?! You practically ate all of the food in the hospital cafeteria!"

Atlas chuckled, "Dat's Roikk's gut for ya."

"Yeah," Leo added, "He defines black hole…"

As if on cue, Rykk's stomach rumbled loudly and he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment again.

Ratchet just shook his head with a grin as they arrived at his father's home.

Once in, they all decided to relax in the living room and decided to watch some Holo-vision.

Sly returned as they were settling in the living room. He had gotten some chips, dip, some Prime, and some bread, Tri-horn meat, and cheese for sandwiches.

As soon as Sly had entered with the snacks, Rykk jumped up and made himself six sandwiches took one of the four bags of chips for himself. He also poured himself a big cup of Prime. He took his meals into the living room and sat in a chair and dug into his meal.

Sly sat next to Carmelita on the sofa and put his arm around her with a smile.

Carmelita smiled back and put her head on his shoulder.

Ratchet sat on the sofa next to Carmelita. Bones' device was on his lap and his hologram stood on the device. He smiled at Ratchet and Ratchet smiled back. The two best friends were happy to be reunited.

Murray sat in another chair and Bentley rolled up next to him. Murray had brought sandwiches and chips for himself and Bentley.

Leo sat at the end of the sofa. He had a cup of Prime.

Atlas leaned against the wall.

Once the Holo-vision was on, it showed the news. An announcer stood in front of a crime scene. "Once again, another body has been found. Like the others, this one has had the number six grotesquely carved into his chest. He has been identified as Carl Marsden, the wanted serial rapist. As of right now, the serial killer known as Six; is still at large. Stay tuned for more details…"

Ratchet sighed, "There's always some killer on the loose…"

Carmelita nodded, "At the very least he's killing only murderers and rapists. He still needs to be caught, but doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as Calamity."

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, still, this Six person needs to be caught. Though I think the Attero is a bigger threat now that Calamity is gone."

"Well," Ratchet started, "We do need to figure out this Kenovo thing… somehow."

Leo started to flip through the channels until he found a movie.

Sly watched the movie but was distracted in his mind. He didn't even notice when the movie was done.

Carmelita noticed Sly's behavior. "Is everything ok Sly?"

It took Sly a second to register that Carmelita had spoken. "Huh?"

"Are you alright? You seem to be… somewhere else."

Sly took a deep breath. "I'm fine… just thinking about what happened the past few days…"

Carmelita nodded, "Yeah, I still can't get my mind around what happened."

"I've been thinking about the future… when I came back… I only wanted to see you… I wanted to be with you…"

Carmelita looked down, "When I felt you go limp Sly… I didn't know what to do… I didn't know how I would live…"

Sly smiled, "I thought the same about you… I realized that when I came back… I wanted to be with you… forever… and I didn't want to wait…"

Carmelita gave Sly a surprised look.

Sly got up and down on one knee. He pulled out a small box. "I want to live, the rest of my new life, with you. Carmelita Fox, will you marry me?"

Carmelita's eyes went wide; she was unable to speak for a few seconds.

Sly opened the box, revealing a gold-banded ring with an oval-shaped gem. The gem was a rich, dark blue with streaks of deep crimson through it.

Sly held his breath; all of time seemed to freeze for him.

"….yes….YES!" tears of joy began to run down Carmelita's face. "I will marry you Sly Cooper!" She jumped down and embraced him.

It took Sly a few seconds to register what she had said. He was in such shock, he looked as if someone had frozen him.

Carmelita knocked Sly out of his shock when she broke the hug and looked at the ring. "It's so beautiful Sly… I've never seen a gem like it…"

Sly nodded and slipped it onto her finger. "The man in the store called it Admor."

Carmelita pulled Sly into a kiss.

Ratchet smiled wide along with Clank.

After a few seconds, Carmelita broke it, "I love this ring, and I love you Sly."

Sly smiled broadly and warmly. "I love you too Carmelita."

* * *

Kyle headed straight for the hospital. He made his way to the alley and say a figure wearing a hood. He approached the figure and got close enough to talk quietly without anyone else hearing. "You Reap?"

The figure nodded. He wore a black mask. It was smooth and had no features on it. "Most of the gang has left." Reap's voice was rough and deep. "We must be careful; one of Rykk's friends is the son to a Chief."

Kyle nodded, "Yates' note didn't say how he wanted them gone. Since this is a Chief's son, we will have to be careful…"

* * *

_Well, well, well…_

_(Six belongs to Evilratchet96, thanks bro for letting me use him. Hope I write him well)_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	5. Chapter 4, Lost

_Happy New Year! Thanks for reading and all of the reviews I have gotten so far! Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 4, Lost

* * *

_I'm an international thief, been to hundreds of places, to a whole new world, Bonded, brought back to life, and being engaged is the most thrilling experience yet. _Sly thought after Carmelita kissed him.

Ratchet gave Sly a pat on the back, "Congratulations you two! This is great!"

Bentley wheeled over to Sly and hugged him. "I am so happy for you Sly!"

Murray grabbed up Sly, Bentley, and Carmelita and gave them all a big hug. "This is awesome!"

Rykk gave another loud and long belch before getting out of his chair. He and Sly shook hands, "Congrates guys!"

Sly chuckled, "Thanks guys," He grinned at Rykk, "Nice burp by the way…"

Rykk blushed, "Sorry, I can't help it. I tried to make it quiet and hold it back…"

Sly shrugged and waved his hand. "It's alright Rykk."

Carmelita chuckled, "What's with you and eating and burping?"

Rykk shook his head, "I don't know. Just the kind of Bonded I am, my animal nature can be a bit rough…"

"A bit?" Leo said, "You once cleared out a five-star restaurant in minutes..."

Rykk glared at Leo. "I told you guys I didn't want to go."

Atlas chuckled, "Alroight guys, calm down Roikk, Leo es just messin'."

"Yeah, I didn't mean…" Leo was interrupted as a wall of Altar formed in front of the gang. Milliseconds after the wall was raised, there was a violent explosion that blew out the front of the house.

The blast knocked over a music player and Bobby Darin's Splish Splash began to play.

"…_Splish Splash I was taking a bath…"_

"SLY! BIDE!" Rykk shouted.

Sly yelled as he unleashed a huge blast of Bide. The odd energy turned nearly everything a red/grey color and made them still, even in midair. The gang was fine and was able to move.

There was a loud roar and a winged figure flew through the large hole in the wall. It flew at Rykk and its wings retracted. In its hands were a pair of Katar-styled daggers. He held them out and tried to impale Rykk with them.

"…_Long about a Saturday night... yeah!…"_

Rykk was fast and managed to avoid being impaled and summoned his Tonfa-styled blades. He parried the daggers and managed to kick his attacker back.

Sly swung his staff at the figure's head.

The figure parried and threw a kick so fast; Sly didn't get a chance to teleport. The raccoon Bonded was sent flying into a wall.

All the while, the upbeat music of the old song played in stark contrast to the fight going on.

"…_Rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub,_

_Thinkin' everything was all right…"_

Carmelita yelled and fired a stream of sapphire flame.

The figure raised his hand up and a large, shadowy, energy hand shielded him from the flame. He then growled as he found himself surrounded by the gang.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Rykk shouted as he managed to blast the figure back with some Alter.

The figure rolled backwards onto his feet and looked unscathed from the blast. He was silent to Rykk's question.

"…_Well... I stepped out the tub,_

_put my feet on the floor…"_

About this time, three Praetorian Guards arrived. They all held Vector, Combination Guns; they were trained on the figure.

"Drop the daggers!" One of the Guards shouted.

The figure raised his hand up and the Guards froze, they lowered their weapons as their eyes started to glow yellow.

"This isn't good…" Ratchet commented.

The figure then pointed at Rykk and then Sly.

The Guards then raised their weapons at the group.

"…_I wrapped the towel around me, and I opened the door._

_And... then-a... splish, splash,_

_I jumped back in the bath,_

_Well... how was I to know, there was a party going on?..."_

Sly teleported in front of one of the Guards. He knocked the Guard's gun away with his staff and then teleported behind the guard and hit him in the back of the neck.

Ratchet dodged a blast from another Guard and set his wrench to stun. He the then nailed the Guard in the jaw with it, "I'm sorry…" he said as the Guard crumpled.

Leo was closest to the third Guard; he grabbed the barrel of the Guard's gun and hit it up. The gun fired harmlessly into the ceiling and Leo yanked the Combo Gun out of the Guard's grasp. He then struck the lombax in the temple with the butt of the weapon.

Meanwhile, the masked figure had re-engaged Rykk with his blades.

"…_They was a splishin' and a splashin',_

_reelin' with the feelin',_

_moving and a groovin',_

_rockin' and a rollin'... yeah!..."_

Both of them couldn't get an advantage over the other. The loud clashes of their blades rang out and sparks flew.

Rykk was surprised that their attacker was keeping pace with him. That and he had never seen these weapons before… or had he? Something about this figure seemed familiar.

After knocking out the unfortunate Guard, Sly charged the assailant. There was a loud ringing of energy and metal as his staff collided with the blades of the attacker.

Somehow, the figure managed to hold both Sly and Rykk off with his odd blades.

The figure managed to kick Rykk back and sent him flying into a wall. Rykk vanished through the wall.

Murray roared, turned into his metal form, and leapt at the attacker.

Sly managed to teleport away as Murray brought his fist down.

"…_Bing, bang I saw the whole gang,_

_Dancin' on my living room rug... yeah..."_

Murray yelped as he found his fist was caught by a large, shadowy hand. The dark energy hand then threw Murray out into the street.

Carmelita roared and fired a large stream of blue fire at the figure.

The figure, once again, shielded himself from the flames with one of his large, dark energy hands. With his other one, he knocked Ratchet aside and the lombax yelped as he flew through a window and into the street.

Rykk appeared from one of the walls and charged at the figure, his claws extended as he moved.

"…_Flip flop,_

_They was doin' the bop,_

_All the teens had the dancin' bug…"_

The figure had little choice but to duck and dodge Rykk's furious swipes. Sure, he got nicked a few times, but nothing serious.

This time, the rest of the gang stepped back, no one wanted to get caught in the crossfire.

Still, the upbeat tune continued to play.

"…_There was Lollipop, with-a Peggy Sue, Good Golly, Miss Molly was-a even there, too!_

_A-well-a... splish, splash, I forgot about the bath_

_I went and put my dancin' shoes on... yeah!..."_

Rykk got an opening and managed to kick the attacker on his back. He put one of his claws to the masked person's throat. "Who are you?"

The masked person didn't respond.

"Who are…" Rykk was interrupted by a loud shot. He moved quickly.

"_I was a rollin' and a strollin'_

_Reelin' with the feelin'_

_Movin' and a groovin'_

_Splishin' and a splashin'... yeah!..."_

Rykk yelped and fell as an Alacrity round hit his side. His quick dodge meant he avoided being shot in the chest. Still, there was a spray of cobalt blood.

"RYKK!" Ratchet yelled and grabbed the hurt Bonded. He pulled him from the open and narrowly avoided being shot himself. Ratchet started to look for Healer, but couldn't find any. He found a blanket and pressed it against Rykk's side. "Keep pressure on it, I'll be back."

The masked assailant stood up.

"_Yes... I was a splishin' and a splashin'_

_I was a rollin' and a strollin'_

_Yeah... I was a movin' and a groovin' ... woo!_

_We was a reelin' with the feelin'... ha!_

_We was a rollin' and a strollin'_

_Movin' with the groovin'_

_Splish, splash... yeah!..."_

The masked person charged the group and Sly teleported in front of him and parried his blades with his staff. "Not that easy," he growled.

Carmelita drew a revolving rifle and looked towards where she thought the shot came from. She saw a masked lombax holding a rifle. She aimed and fired.

"_I was a splishin' and a splashin'... one time..._

_I was a splishin' and a splashin'... woo-woo!_

_I was a movin' and a-groovin'..."_

_The song faded and ended._

The lombax yelped as he was struck in the shoulder by Carmelita's round. He ducked under the wall he had his rifle perched on and applied some Healer to his wound. He growled and crawled a few yards to the right and brought his rifle up and began to scan for a target.

The lombax grinned, "Gotcha." His finger pulled the trigger and an Alacrity rounds flew.

Sly yelped as his right leg was hit, the flesh above his knee sent a spray of dark grey blood.

The figure Sly was fighting picked him up. He put Sly in a choke hold and managed to knock him out.

All Ratchet and the others could do was watch. The way Sly was held, any attempt to attack would put the Bonded in danger.

The figure looked at the gang and growled, it was a deep, frustrated growl.

"Let him go!" Carmelita yelled; her tone was fiery.

The figure didn't reply, at least verbally. His response came in the form of his wings extending.

Carmelita growled and charged him, "NO!"

She wasn't quick enough and the figure flew away. He grabbed the masked lombax and they vanished over a building.

* * *

_I know, I'm mean to my characters... oh well, it's fun. Thanks for reading!_

_Stay Tuned!_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	6. Chapter 5, The Hunter

_Hey guys, sorry about the delay. Was getting over an infection and couldn't think clear enough to write._

_Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 5, The Hunter

* * *

Carmelita was in shock once Sly and the attackers were gone. "Sly… no…" she growled. "I **will** get you back Sly… no matter what I do."

Ratchet was also stunned, as were the rest of the gang.

"The masked one, I think I know him or of him…" Rykk stated.

Carmelita looked at Rykk with a determined look. "Who is he?"

"For his real name, I don't know, but he goes by Reap. I don't know what he is, most likely, he's a Bonded. Other than that, all I know is he works for Mill Yates." Rykk stated.

Carmelita nodded, "Let's get him."

Rykk shook his head, "Mill Yates is the head of the Attero… it's not going to be that simple. We have no idea where he is."

Carmelita growled. "Then we tear apart each Attero camp we find!"

Rykk shook his head again, "That will not work, we'll eventually get someone in this group killed and won't be close to finding Yates."

Atlas spoke up, "Oi moight know a place ta start.

"Where?" Carmelita asked.

"Dere es a bar here en Velocity, called The Drake. Et es run by a lombax known as Giver, you want something, he can supply it. 'E may know sometin' about Reap."

Carmelita nodded, "Let's go visit him."

Rykk nodded, "I know of him. He'll need some persuasion or compensation." He grinned as he extended his claws.

Carmelita smiled.

They made their way to the bar; it was a few miles away. The place was popular and crowded. Loud music played and the place was mostly inhabited by lombaxes. Most were drunk and stumbled everywhere.

"This way," Atlas said as he led them to the bar.

"What'll it be?" A large lombax asked.

"We are here to talk with Giver." Ratchet said.

The bartender did raise an eyebrow. "Who is Giver?"

Rykk stepped up. "You know who he is, tell him Rykk is here."

The bartender nodded and went into the back of the bar.

He returned a minute later with four, armed guards. "Giver will see Rykk, you, you, and you now." He pointed to Ratchet, Carmelita, and Leo.

Rykk shrugged, "We don't have a choice."

The bartender then led the four down some stairs that opened into a hall. Down the hall was a door that they were led through. In the room was a living room with a large sofa and table. On the sofa sat a lombax. He was a bigger bax, a bit chubby but not fat. He had white fur and yellow stripes. He had a lit smoke in his mouth and breathed out some smoke. "Well, I never thought I'd see a Bonded in my club; especially not one so controversial."

Rykk chuckled, "Seems like business is good here."

"What do you want Rykk? I can get anything for the right price." The lombax said as he tapped some ash from his smoke.

"What can you tell us about Reap?"

Giver paused, "Reap huh?"

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, I know he works for Yates. Can you tell me where he is or Yates?"

Giver chuckled. "If I knew where Yates is, I wouldn't be alive. Reap however… I might know a bit. Of course…"

"…There's a price right?" Rykk finished. "What do you want?"

Giver chuckled. "You've heard of the serial killer known as Six? I need him gone. He's killed too many of my contacts. Take care of him, and I'll tell you."

Rykk furrowed his brow. "I am not in the business of killing." Rykk leaned close to Giver and extended a claw from his finger. The guards drew their weapons and aimed them at Rykk. Leo, Ratchet, and Carmelita drew their weapons at the same time and they had a standoff as Rykk spoke. Neither side fired or moved.

Rykk's voice became a deep, menacing growl. "I however do not mind inflicting some… distress. Now, a friend of mine has been taken by Reap. I am… determined to get him back."

Giver started to sweat and looked a bit shaken by Rykk's threat.

Carmelita spoke up and pulled Rykk back, making the guards lower their guns. "Where is Six? What leads do you have on him?"

Giver nodded, "Last place he was seen was in New Elko; his latest kill, a murdering thief. Heh, his first kill that actually helped me; a friend of mine saw the lombax entering a small hotel. Which one, I am not sure, but you can find my friend."

"Who is he?" Ratchet asked.

"Well," Giver stated, "Friend is a bit loose of a term. He's a Law Man, Micah Rance, an Occisor; he often uses me to find targets. I believe he's after Six as well."

Rykk nodded, "Pleasure doing business." He tossed a Gold Icon to Giver.

Giver chuckled, "No problem."

At that, Rykk, Carmelita, Ratchet, and Leo left the room, escorted by the guards.

The group quickly left the bar and began walking.

Leo spoke aloud, "An Occisor huh?"

"What is an Occisor? He said it was a type of Law Man." Ratchet asked.

Leo answered. "An Occisor is the deadliest class of Law Man. When you enter the Law Men, you can't pick the Occisor class right off like the other classes. You can only get into it if you do well enough. Simply put, they are highly trained assassins, infiltrators, spies, and scouts. They can be armed with nearly anything, can appear and disappear seemingly at will, and have extremely fast reflexes and acute senses."

"So how do we find this Occisor, Micah Rance?" Ratchet asked.

"We have to find Rance's handlers." Leo answered. "I know of Rance, he's one of the top Occisors. We either have to contact his handler, or interrupt his operation. He won't reveal himself to us willingly, and if we do the second option, he may very well kill us."

"Ok, so who is his handler?" Carmelita asked.

"Governor Isaac Lance of New Elko is ultimately the one who the Occisors report to." Leo answered, "So we should have a talk with him."

Carmelita nodded, "A politician huh? Can we trust him?"

Rykk nodded back, "Yeah, he may be a politician, but he's not a weasel. He is a tough, kind, and straightforward person. If he knows I want to speak with him, he'll let us in."

"We can use my dad's Atmo to reach New Elko." Ratchet suggested. "I'll talk to him."

* * *

Sly woke up in a dark room. He felt a numbing sensation around his throat. He realized he was collared and he felt cold air hit the fur on his torso. His arms are bound behind the chair he was on. He tasted metal in his mouth and parts of his fur felt sticky.

There was a spotlight on Sly; beyond its boundary was blackness. The Bonded raccoon looked up, he was breathing quickly and in a labored fashion. "Who are you?! Where am I?!"

From the darkness stepped a lombax with silver fur with dark blue stripes. His blue/grey eyes flashed in the light. "Hello there, do you know who I am?"

Sly shook his head, "No, why should I?"

"My name is Troy, but I'm known as The Hunter." He studied Sly for a second.

Sly's mind then flashed as he remembered reading a wanted poster. It was for someone called The Hunter. _The poster didn't have a picture, but just his title and crimes. He was wanted for assault, assault with a deadly weapon, multiple murders, assassination attempts, conspiracy to commit murders and assassinations, fraud, conning multiple people of millions of Icons, sabotage, and grand theft. In short, he was a nasty lombax, but also quite cunning._ Sly hid the realization but Troy saw it.

The lombax smirked, "So you have heard of me?"

Sly nodded reluctantly, "I have."

The Hunter's smirk turned into an almost giddy smile. "This is good, so, my associate is after a friend of yours. He has caused my employer a good amount of grief. I also hear that you have someone that you love…"

Sly growled.

"…If you give us Rykk, Ratchet, and the two Law Men, my associate and I will leave you, your loved one, and your two friends alone. You have my word." The Hunter looked back into the darkness as a roar came from it. "If you decline my generous offer, my associate will have a chat with you. I can tell you, he is not as… civil as I am." The Hunter chuckled, "I'll give you a few minutes to think it over." At that, Troy retreated into the darkness.

* * *

Troy stepped out of the room they had Sly in and approached Reap. "Twenty Gold Icons I bet that he takes my offer."

The figure known as Reap grunted, "I hope he doesn't." His dark, deep, raspy voice rang out. "I've been bored of late."

* * *

Sly lowered his head. _Carmelita, would she forgive me if I made a deal? How do I know if he will even keep his end of the deal? _Sly looked around and took a deep breath. _You idiot, he showed you his face and even told you his name. Even if I take the deal, he's gonna kill us. He has to. So, my two options really are; take the deal and play along until the right time, or reject it, and take whatever his friend has for me. Obviously they're playing the old, bait and trap routine; and I'm the bait. So they can't kill me._ Sly was torn for the few minutes The Hunter allowed him to think things over.

About ten minutes later, The Hunter reappeared. "So my friend, what is your choice?"

* * *

_Choices, choices, choices..._

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	7. Chapter 6, Heating Up

_Wanted to add a few things, anyways, mostly the same. Just some Rykk and Atlas dialogue and a few other things._

* * *

Chapter 6, Heating Up

* * *

Upon drawing near the city of New Elko; Ratchet realized that he had never been there. When they got close, he realized that this city was not only immense in size, but had two levels. The second level almost seemed to cut the city's towers in half. The towers themselves were at least two thousand feet in height and the second level was about a thousand feet above the ground. Like Velocity, there were hundreds of monorail lines linking the buildings. The whole city looked old yet advanced. Like the technology it used was more advanced than it should have been.

"Wow… I mean, it's nowhere near as big as Metropolis, but it is unlike any city I've seen!" Ratchet stated.

"She es a beaut ain't she?" Atlas admired. "Oi grew up here, et es bot a 'ard city an' a great one."

Rykk chuckled, "Yeah, sorry about nearly destroying most of it."

Atlas smirked. "Eh, ya were foighten Calamity, Oi didn't mind ya beatin' his tail."

Mike Racine, the pilot of the Atmo, flew the craft to one of the city's tallest buildings and landed on the appropriate platform.

The group walked into the building and approached a security desk. Behind it was a Law Man. He looked up at the group, "Well hello Rykk, why are you here?"

"I need to see Governor Lance, it is very important."

The man nodded, "He is in his office. I think you have caught him at a good time."

Rykk nodded back, "Thanks."

The group was then escorted by the Law Man to the office.

The Governor's office had a warm feel due to the wood paneled floors and walls. The Governor sat behind a big, wooden desk and was working on some paperwork. He looked up; he was a human that looked to be in his mid-forties. He had long, silver hair but it didn't look like it came from age and a tall, commanding figure. "Well hello Rykk, it's been a while. I am glad to hear that you defeated that demon known as Calamity."

"Yeah, I couldn't have done it without my friends… Governor, that's why I'm here. You see, shortly after our return, we were attacked and one of my friends was taken. I believe the culprit to be Reap."

The Governor sighed, "Well, Reap is a big problem. He's the top enforcer/hit man for the Attero and personally serves Mill Yates."

"I also believe he's a Bonded, when we fought, he was faster and stronger than a Law Man and displayed supernatural abilities."

Lance sighed, "What do you need from me?"

Ratchet stepped forward. "We got in touch with a lombax known as Giver. He told us that, in exchange for taking down the serial killer known as Six, he would give us info on Reap. He also said that an Occisor of yours, Micah Rance, was going after Six. We need to see him."

Lance thought for a second. "I can try and contact him. I doubt it will be quick though. There is a lounge you all can stay in until I get in touch with him."

Carmelita growled. "Sir, my fiancé was kidnapped by a demon. I can't just sit around!"

Lance stood up. "I don't blame you for feeling this way. But Occisors, once on a job, are very difficult to contact. Mostly due to them being undercover or hiding. Unless you have another lead, you will have to wait. I am sorry I can't do more." His tone was both a bit stern and caring.

Carmelita hung her head. "I guess you're right…" she went and sat in a chair.

* * *

Sly jumped as he saw The Hunter re-emerge from the dark. The lombax had a wry grin. "So, my friend what is your choice?"

Sly took a deep breath. "I can't help you… I'm sorry… I just can't."

Troy sighed, "I thought you'd have been smarter…" He waved his hand and the masked figure entered the light. "He said no," was all Troy said before vanishing again.

The figure known as Reap approached Sly. "I was hoping you would refuse." He held his hand up and caught a small sack of Icons. "Thank you Troy, now…" He grabbed one of Sly's fingers and twisted it. A sickening crack and pop rang out and Sly yelled. "Help us get Rykk and the pain stops and you and your friends are free. It is really that simple."

Sly grunted and glared at Reap. "No, I won't."

Reap sighed. "Okay then…" Reap summoned a pistol and put its barrel against his palm. A shot rang out and grey blood splattered on the ground as Sly's hand was nearly torn apart. Sly screamed again, this time louder. "Oh, looks like there's a bit of a mess. Here, let me help, that wound will get infected." Reap said as he dumped rubbing alcohol on Sly's new wound.

Sly shrieked loudly as it felt like his hand was put in a furnace. He tried, but found he could not move his fingers. The muscles and tendons must have been severed and he felt a tear fall.

"It's alright to cry. I mean, there's nothing else you can really do right?" Reap taunted.

Sly grunted as the dripping of blood could be heard. His hand, now a mangled mess of tissue, fur, and bone, hung from the back of the chair.

Reap then kicked Sly, making him fall on his back. The position was odd and quite uncomfortable as he was stuck to the chair. Sly yelped as he felt Reap kick his groin… hard.

"Gotta love the simple things," Reap commented as he punched Sly's shin, breaking it badly. "Well this is off to a good start."

* * *

"What is that thing doing to Sly?" Carmelita thought and said aloud. "Why did he take him now? Today? I mean… he just proposed…" She looked down at the ring on her finger and felt a tear fall.

It had been about two hours since they arrived in the office of the Governor.

Bentley rolled over to her. "Sly is tough, he can take whatever they do to him. Soon, the both of you will be together again. I know it; we'll get this Reap and bring him down, right Murray?"

Murray nodded and smashed his fist into his palm. "I will crush him! The Murray will pay him back for taking our friend!"

Carmelita smiled, "Thanks guys, we will get them!"

There was a light knocking on the door and Governor Lance entered. "Rance is here," He nodded to someone behind him and Rance entered.

Rance was wearing the typical Occisor dress; a long-sleeved, black jacket with a hood. On the jacket's edge was a highlight of crimson. The jacket covered a grey, short-sleeved shirt. On the his face was a black mask. The mask's face was smooth; the only details were its eyes and a faint grill pattern covering the mouth. The eyes did glow a faint green color and the grill pattern on the mouth protected him from toxins. The Occisor's pants were also black with a crimson highlight. On his feet were, black, leather boots. On his jacket is a symbol, a circle with two, parallel, curved lines and between the two lines is a hexagon. The symbol itself is crimson. Rance is a human male in his late twenties or early thirties. He had blonde, almost white, hair with a streak of bright red through it. It looks like someone had painted it on, but it was natural. He had light blue eyes and a vertical scar under is right eye. "So this is the crew that wants my help to catch this killer?" He sees Rykk, "Well this just got fun."

Lance nodded, "They need Six so they can get some information on Reap. Reap has one of their friends, he took him after a failed attempt to kill them."

Rance smiled, "Well, this just got more fun. Here I thought I was just going to go after some psychobax. Now, I get to go after him, save someone, and then go after Reap?! This is just too good!" He sounded like a kid on Christmas.

Ratchet raised a brow. "So… Rance, what do you know about this Six person?"

Rance leaned against the wall and smirked. "Well, he's staying at a series of hotels in the Red Road and the Shine…"

Leo sighed, "Of course, the roughest parts of New Elko are his hunting grounds. Since he kills rapists and murderers those would be the prime areas for him to hunt."

Rance gave a slightly irritated look at Leo. "Yeah… that's what I thought too. Anyways, he'll be staying at a hotel called The Plain Blossom for the next few days. He usually commits his kills in an alleyway. However, since it's the Shine or Red Road, the only way to tell his kills apart from others is the fact that he carves the number 6 into the chests of his victims. He also has one blue eye and one green and his canine teeth come out of his mouth and are sharpened to a point. The rest of his teeth are sharp too. I think it's an intimidation technique, as best I can tell, Six is a bit of a sadist. He torments his victims before killing them using different techniques based on his victim's crimes."

Atlas whistled, "Ya 'ave learned a lot about 'em haven't ya? Oi wonder, why 'aven't ya captured or killed 'em yet?"

Rance sighed, "I haven't gotten the word yet. The bax is also quite slippery, he's almost lost me once or twice, and that is a feat."

Ratchet remarked, "Prideful much?"

Lance chuckled. "Occisors are the best scouts and assassins around. Losing one, or even almost losing one, **is** a feat. We haven't wanted him dead yet because we are not sure if he is a citizen of Velocity. That, and we haven't seen a killer like him before and he's caused a decent amount of debate among the Councilors here and the Chiefs in Velocity. Simply put, get him alive guys. If I recall, Giver didn't say to kill him, just stop him."

Rance nodded. "You got it sir; I'll make sure to get 'em alive."

"**We** will get him alive," Carmelita stated firmly. "Reap has my fiancé, I am going to make sure we get him back." The look on her face was pure determination.

Rance nodded, "All right then, let's go get this bax."

* * *

The lombax known as Six sat in his hotel room. He sighed and his blue eye flashed in the light. _I've gotta deal with this stalker I have. He or she is getting on my nerves. _He growled, _every time I try to evade them, they still find me! Even if I change up the pattern of hotels I stay at! I was able to drop any tails I had back in Solana, but I can't get rid of this one! Ugh… I've only been here for a few weeks too… _He sighed. _Well, at least there's plenty of marks around here. The Shine and Red Road are ripe for sickos._ He held up a letter and read it.

"_**I admired your work in Solana and here. I hope to be free soon, but I wanted to thank you for helping to get rid of the filth. When I am free, I will meet you, and then we will clean up. **_

_**Take care, M"**_

_Hmmm… don't know the lombax girl that dropped this off and I can't find her anywhere. Still, this is interesting. Though, I really don't want a partner. I work alone. _He growled and tossed the letter across the room. _Could she be the prowler that's following me? No, from what I've seen, the prowler doesn't have lombax ears and they don't have hologuises here. I don't like this; two different parties are watching me… if only there was a way back to Solana… _Six grabbed up a paper, it was a wanted poster for a human male. _There we go; you will do fine you sicko._

Six grabbed his knife and headed out the door.

* * *

Kenovo felt a shudder and saw a flash as he leapt through the portal. He stood on crimson dirt and looked up into the yellow sky. He had kept his human appearance as he knew that his true form would easily stand out.

He looked around. _Time to reclaim my Beings…_

* * *

_Heating up indeed...  
_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	8. Chapter 7, Takedown and Intimidate

_Sorry about the delay, I have just started classes._

_Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 7, Takedown and Intimidate

* * *

The group followed Rance to the hotel Six was currently staying. They took a room down the hall from his and prepped to take him. Rykk used his vision and saw that he was still in his room.

Rance was loading up his sleeve guns with stun rounds. "Only one of you come with me. More than that might spook him… one is pushing it." He looked at Leo, "You are coming with me Law Man."

Leo nodded.

Rance looked at Ratchet, "Heard you can grow to be a giant or shrink?"

Ratchet nodded, "Yeah, I also have nearly impervious skin. Well, energy-tipped blades and Vector rounds are a problem…"

"Yeah, so I heard… Ratchet, I need you to sneak into Six's room." He pointed to a vent. "Go straight and take the first right and you will enter right next to his bed, behind a nightstand. When we get in, you try to flank him. Rykk, you go through the walls and be ready to move on my signal, I'll call your name. Leo and I will be outside his room and will enter."

Ratchet shrank and walked towards the vent. "Rykk, where is he?"

Rykk's eyes did glow and he looked around. "He's lying on his bed, be careful."

Ratchet nodded and entered the vent. It only took him a minute to reach the exit and enter Six's room. Being that size was humbling and Ratchet looked around. Looking up, he saw a huge, golden lombax foot hanging off the edge of the bed. The only thing Ratchet could hear was the sound of a ceiling fan and someone breathing. _Please be asleep, _Ratchet thought as he climbed up the table's leg. He peeked above the table's surface and saw Six.

Six was lying on the bed, his eyes were closed and his chest went up and down in a slow rhythm. His sharp canines stuck out from between his lips and the vertical scar on his chin gave him a fierce look.

Ratchet felt a bit disturbed as Six looked quite similar to himself in fur color and in size and shape. He was also a tad bit unnerved by the fact that Six was huge compared to him. True, Ratchet could just grow to his normal size, that fear was instinctive.

Ratchet climbed back down to the ground and ran along the edge of the bed. He moved as quietly as he could and made his way to the dresser. He managed to climb up it; it wasn't a tall dresser (about four feet tall) and stood near the window. He stood on it and hid behind a lamp and waited.

Six stirred awake and growled a bit, he jumped up as the door to his room fell. He bolted for the window as Leo and Rance came in. Ratchet jumped from hiding, grew to normal size in midair, and tackled Six.

Six kicked Ratchet off and tried for the window again.

This time, Rykk was standing in the window and kicked him back.

Six fell back and was grabbed by Rance. Rance gave him a quick injection and let go.

Six growled before collapsing and passing out.

Ratchet stood up and was rubbing his jaw. "Bax he hit hard…oww…"

Rance chuckled, "Yeah, that looked like it hurt. Well, let's take this guy to a cell."

The rest of the gang nodded and they headed back to the Atmo with the KO'd Six.

* * *

Sly was covered in grey blood and was a beaten mess. His hand still had the hole in it, though it had mostly stopped bleeding due to the Healer. Reap had been torturing him for what felt like eternity. He only got a break whenever The Hunter would come and offer the deal. He offered it at least five times, each time, Sly refused. Each round also ended with Sly being injected with Healer so they could do more torture.

_They're looking for me; my friends will get me out of this. If I took this deal, even if to help save Rykk and the others, I would be telling the gang I didn't believe they could. Sure, this hurts like nothing else, but I can take it. They don't want me dead because they might use me as a bartering tool to get to Rykk, Ratchet, and the others._

Reap approached him. "Yates is extending a generous offer, give us Rykk and the two Law Men in your group, and the rest of you will not only be free, but will be well paid."

Because he was a thief, the offer of money was tempting. Even though his loyalty meant more, Sly had to stop himself from just taking the offer.

"I will give you a few minutes to think this one over. You should accept, this is the first time Yates has made an offer like this." At that, Reap left the light.

* * *

Six woke up in a cell. The light in the room was bright and it was the typical interrogation/holding room. _Well this is not good… who would have thought a Bonded would come after me? Bet they want me for more than just my killings as he is involved._ Six's attention was drawn as Leo entered the room.

"Well, what am I doing here?" Six chuckled, showing off some of his sharp teeth.

"You know why."

Six shook his head, _I do…_ "I don't. I was just lying in my hotel room when you grabbed me."

"We know you are Six, Mr. Marcus, or whatever your real name is. One of our Occisors saw you as you killed and hid."

Six sighed, "Alright, so what now? Life in prison? Death sentence?"

Leo shook his head, "Nope, for now you are staying here. We are still not sure what to do with you."

Six chuckled, "Giver, he the one that got the heat on me didn't he? That fat bax…"

Leo sat back, "Tell me, do you know anything about Reap and the Attero?"

Six thought for a second. "Reap is a myth on the streets, only Calamity was more feared. Mill Yates, the head of the Attero, is quite feared as well. I killed many of their underlings… don't trust Giver. I wouldn't doubt if he's with the Attero."

"How well do you know Giver?"

Six grinned, _he's interested now, I've got him._ "Giver is an arms dealer, one of the biggest around. I bet he is, you go back to him like he said, and you will get a knife in the back."

Leo thought for a second. "I will be back," He got up and left the room. He approached the gang behind the one-way mirror. "I wouldn't doubt that Giver would be working with the Attero."

"What do we do about him?" Ratchet said and nodded towards Six.

"We are going to run his DNA," Bones stated, "We may be able to ID him. I wouldn't be too anxious though, there's millions of lombaxes." He said as he floated into the room.

Six chuckled upon seeing Bones, "Well, you look interesting."

Bones was silent as he pulled a hair off of Six and put it in a test tube.

"DNA huh?" Six stated/asked, "Well, good luck finding a match." He smirked at Bones left the room.

"Well, he's quite confident isn't he?" Leo remarked, "How long until we get results on his DNA?"

Bones shook his holographic head, "Not entirely sure, could be a few minutes to almost a day, if we get a match at all." Bones plugged the vial into a slot on his disk and a blue light did shine on it. "Analyzing," Bones remarked and he began to focus.

"So I guess we…" Ratchet started before being interrupted by Bones.

"Guys…"

"What is it Bones?" Ratchet asked, "Do you have a match already?"

"In a way… Ratchet… my records indicate that his DNA is quite similar to your father's… Six is your brother…"

Ratchet's mind stopped for a second, "Wh-what?!"

Everyone in the room was equally stunned.

"I have triple checked the results, and each time they say the same thing." Bones stated, "The lombax known as Six is your brother."

Ratchet's tone sounded hurt and confused, "B-but… why didn't my dad tell me about him?"

"I do not know the answer to that; you will have to ask him yourself. Needless to say, this complicates things."

Ratchet sighed, "You have no idea… can you have my father come here?"

Bones' holographic head nodded. "He will be here soon."

"Thank you," Ratchet sat down and held his head. He was still struggling to process the information.

Fen sat next to Ratchet, "Wow… I… I'm here for you brother…"

Ratchet looked up at him, "Thanks Fen, I can't believe this…"

Rykk sighed and looked at Six. Six had his head lying on the table and looked bored.

It was about thirty minutes later when Kaden arrived. He was still in a wheelchair, though this one was motorized. He wheeled into the room, "I see you caught Six."

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, but there's something you and Ratchet need to discuss." He nodded and the group began to file out of the room. Rykk was the last to leave and he closed the door behind him.

Kaden looked up at Ratchet, "What's going on?"

Ratchet had a hurt/confused look on his face, "Dad… why didn't you tell me about my brother?"

Kaden froze and was clearly caught off guard by the question. "What do you mean?"

Ratchet pointed at Six, "Bones did a DNA test and found out he is your son…"

Kaden looked even more shocked, "WHAT?!"

Ratchet nodded, "He did the test quite a few times and confirmed it. So why didn't you tell me?"

Kaden thought for a second. "…B-because… I thought he was dead… I thought he died when Tachyon attacked…" Kaden's eye became wet.

Ratchet's expression softened.

"I ran in my burning house to grab the both of you, but I was only able to get you. The flames cut me off from the room he was in." Tears began to roll down Kaden's cheek. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to upset you. I didn't see the point…"

Ratchet felt a tear fall, "I understand why… but I still wish you had told me dad…"

Kaden nodded, "I am sorry. Let in there, I should tell him."

Ratchet nodded and opened the door that let the gang back in. "You guys can come in now."

The group then filed back into the room.

"Let me in there," Kaden asked/stated.

Leo nodded and unlocked the door.

Kaden wheeled in.

"Now who are you?" Six asked and seemed genuinely curious as to why an older, bandaged lombax in a wheelchair stood before him.

Kaden sat across from him. "My named is Kaden Ellipse; I am a Chief of Velocity. I am… also your father…"

Six didn't move nor respond for a bit. He, like Ratchet, seemed stunned. "…huh?"

Kaden sighed, "When Tachyon attacked, I tried to save all of my family. My wife was killed by his troops so I tried to save my two kits; you and the lombax known as Ratchet…"

"So… the intergalactic hero… is my brother?" Six couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"…I was able to get ahold of Ratchet, but when I tried to get you, I was cut off by a wall of flame and debris…" Kaden felt more tears fall, "…it was heartbreaking… I heard your cries but was powerless to get to you… I had no choice." Kaden began to cry and sob. "I felt like I was being torn in two… leaving you there…"

Six couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by emotions he hadn't felt in a long, long time. He felt sadness, anger, hurt, pity, and love for Kaden, his father. The lombax with sharpened teeth and different colored eyes, the one who killed murderers and rapists for kicks couldn't handle this. He couldn't help but let a few tears fall.

* * *

Sly looked up as Reap approached. "Well? Have you thought it over?"

Sly grimaced, "I-I can't accept…"

Reap's reaction went unseen through the mask, but his tone sounded both disappointed and happy. "Well, that's unfortunate…" Reap approached a table. "It seems you're a bit of a stubborn one…" He picked up a pick and a small hammer. "I'm not a doctor, but I do have an interest in the field. You know where stubbornness and free will rests in the brain?" He pointed to his head, "The pre-frontal lobe… A friend of mine taught me this, it's called…" He put the pick so that the tip pointed towards his own eye. "…a trans-orbital lobotomy." He nodded towards Sly and The Hunter with another thug, took hold of Sly's head.

Sly struggled against their grip as he began to panic. "Let go! I won't help you!"

Reap approached Sly, "Now, if you won't be still, it's not my fault if things go wrong."

Sly yelped as he felt the pick being pushed above his eye, right into his head. His vision went blurry and red, the pain was intense as Reap moved the pick around.

"Feel that? I'm moving the pick… across your eye…"

Sly jumped and yelped from the movement.

"Aw shh, shh, calm down… and I'm resting it on your skull. I just have to get through this bit of bone." Reap lifted up his small hammer, "And that's where this comes in…"

"I won't help… ACK!" Sly yelped as Reap tapped the pick with the hammer.

"Shhh, that was only a small tap, but it will only take a few of them to get through. Then we'll see how tough you are; help us get the Bonded and the Law Men."

Sly whimpered, "I won't."

"You know what else is in this area of the brain? Creativity…" He tapped the pick.

Sly yelped.

"…Individuality…" He tapped again.

Sly whimpered.

"…Personality…" Another tap, "…In short, what makes you, you." He moved the pick around a bit and there was light cracking sound. "Ah, I'm just about there, last chance; help us… get… the Bonded and Law Men."

Sly looked up at him and grinned, "Or what? You drill into my skull, take away all of my memories? I don't think I'd be able to help you then… go ahead… I dare you!"

Reap growled and yanked the pick out of Sly's head.

The relief was immediate to Sly who gasped.

He then struck Sly on the head, that made him dizzy and his vision was blurry for a second. "We got us a regular hero!" He sounded ticked; like he was sure Sly would have caved. "Fine, when we get his friends, I'll skin them in front of him." At that, Reap and the others left.

* * *

_Thanks for reading, what do you guys think so far?_

_Also, the lobotomy scene is paying homage to a scene in BioShock Infinite's DLC, Burial At Sea, Epsiode 2_

_BioShock is the best!_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	9. Chapter 8, Comradery

_Hey guys, sorry again for the long wait._

_It's become a bit harder because of my classes and work._

_I work 12 hour, night shifts 3 to 4 times a week._

_Anyways, enough about me, on with the story!_

* * *

Chapter 8, Comradery

* * *

Kaden looked at Six, "Son, I can't free you from these charges…"

Six nodded, "I know… I can't help it… I get so angry… I lash out… I try to redirect it, make it do something good by getting rid of the vile people in the world."

Kaden sighed, "Six, you can't just go around killing people, good or bad. However, I think I can help you out a bit…"

Six raised a brow, "How?"

"If you come with us and help us deal with the Attero. You will be monitored and I can reason with the Governor of New Elko and make a deal. I may be able to make you avoid the death penalty or even pardon you, depending on what happens."

Six gave a light smile, showing his sharpened teeth, "Thanks dad."

"However, you must give up your killing ways." Kaden's expression was quite serious.

Six looked down, "You know, if you had been anyone besides my father talking to me like that, like a kit, it wouldn't have been good for you..."

Kaden didn't seem undisturbed by Six's statement. "Well, what do you say to me?"

Six looked up, "For you… I can. Honestly, not having a father was one of the reasons I killed."

Kaden nodded, "Well, I hope you can be free someday. I'll see you soon son," at that, Kaden left the room and Leo re-entered.

"Well Six, it would seem you'll be helping us. For obvious reasons, you will be wearing a tracker and under Law Man supervision at all times. And trust me, you won't find anyone who can remove these trackers."

Six nodded and sighed, "I understand…"

"Good," At that, Leo nodded and a technician entered the room and strapped on an ankle tracker. He also shot a tracker into the back of Six's neck, making him yelp.

"There you go, now, let's go visit Giver."

A short time later, Rykk, Leo, Carmelita, and Ratchet entered Giver's lounge.

"So you took care of Six eh?"

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, so let's talk about Reap."

Giver sighed, "Yeah… about that…"

Rykk yelped as he felt a prick in his neck. "Wha..." his vision became blurry and everything sounded distant and distorted as he passed out.

Leo too fell asleep.

Carmelita managed to dodge the dart aimed at her.

Ratchet's tough skin prevented the dart aimed for him from working. He pulled out his shotgun as a dozen armed men ran in and surrounded them

Giver sighed, "If it makes you feel any better, I was gonna tell you about Reap. But, then this lombax comes in and says that if I did, I'd die a slow death. He also offered a great deal of money for the Bonded especially." He pointed to the unconscious Rykk.

Carmelita dodged another dart and fired a stream of blue fire at one of the attackers.

Ratchet fired his shotgun and took out two.

Rance, Atlas, and Six ran into the room, Rance summoned his sleeve guns and quickly took out four.

Six drew his blades and quickly dispatched three.

Atlas fired both of his pistols and killed the last two.

Rance approached Giver. "Well, I'd say you better start talking."

Giver held his hands up, "Fine, fine! I supply Reap on occasion! I happen to know he sometimes frequents the inn called Prowler's Den in New Elko. That's where we meet! That's all I know!"

"Who was the lombax that told you to bag us?" Rance demanded.

"I d-don't know his real name… but I think he goes by the name of The Hunter…"

Rance growled. "Well, this got even more interesting…"

Giver stammered, "Wh-what, n-now?"

Rance summoned a gun-shaped device and sprayed a mist in Giver's face.

Giver passed out.

"Well that was fun… not really," Carmelita remarked.

Ratchet looked at the knocked out Rykk and Leo, "Well, can someone get them up? We'll be going to the Prowler's Den."

"I'm the only one going," Rance stated.

"Wait, what?" Ratchet, Six, Carmelita and Atlas all said at the same time.

"You will all spook him if he is there."

"You have no idea what he looks like." Carmelita stated with a determined tone.

"Neither do you,"

"No, but I know what he; sounds like, smells like, and if he is wearing his disguise, I can easily spot him."

Fen approached, "And I can use Ferra to find him." He snapped his fingers and Ferra turned into a swarm of bees. He did thrust his hand and the bees scattered before being drawn back to him.

Rance chuckled, "Nice one kid, that could be very useful."

Arco chuckled back, "You guys left the station so fast, you forgot me and Fen."

Ratchet blushed, "Sorry kids…"

Six looked at his brother, "Really? We're bringing kids with us?"

"Dese are not normal kits," Atlas stated, "Dey 'ave VIM abilities."

Six did raise a brow, "VIM?"

"Yeah, VIM es sometin' dat gives de person super abilities."

Six looked at Ratchet, "You got shot with a dart… why aren't you out brother?"

"Well, I also have VIM…"

"Really? What can you do?"

"I have tough skin and can shrink to two inches tall or one hundred feet tall…"

Six's eyes went wide. "Whoa… I have got to get that…"

Atlas jumped back in, "For now, yer still en custody Six. 'E wouldn't give a killer loike you de VIM unless 'e proved you are worthy of et."

"Besides," Ratchet added, "The effects are different per person…"

"Not quite…" Clank interrupted. "Six, because he is your brother, has a similar enough genetic structure to you. That means that he will probably have the same abilities."

Six grinned widely, "I will prove that I am worthy of VIM." He tugged at his collar, "And I will get this cursed thing off of me."

Atlas nodded, "E will 'ave ta see."

Six looked at the KO'd members of this group and sighed. "If you let me, I have a drug or two that can probably wake them up."

Atlas and Ratchet looked at Six with raised eyebrows, "How?" Atlas started, "E searched you toroughly."

Six grinned again, "I got ways, you want them up or not?"

Atlas and Ratchet looked at each other, than back at Six. "Sure, do et."

Six nodded and a syringe appeared in his hand. "I do love these Utilities you guys invented, so efficient."

At that, Six injected both Rykk and Leo in the neck.

Rykk leapt up a few seconds later and landed on all fours and looked around. The Bonded's fur stood on end as if he had just been startled badly, "What happened?! Where am I?! What's going on?!"

Six couldn't help but laugh at Rykk's reaction.

Atlas snickered.

Ratchet chuckled, "Calm down bro, Giver tried to backstab us."

"Speaking of which, who is The Hunter?" Carmelita asked.

Rance sighed, "Besides Reap, The Hunter is one of the top agents for the Attero."

"Whoa, they're sending the best huh?" Ratchet commented.

"Yeah, they really want you guys… guess they figured you guys a good threat now that Calamity is gone." Rance stated.

"Well, let's head to the Prowler's Den and say hi." Carmelita said with a smart tone and drew her McVoy pistol.

Rance, Fen, Arco, Carmelita, and Ratchet approached the inn. The others stayed at an inn close by, in case things went bad.

Ratchet had shrunk himself and hid inside Rance's pocket.

"I know I have height issues, but this is a bit ridiculous…" Ratchet retorted.

"Not my fault that is what the VIM gave ya." Rance responded.

"Besides," Fen added, "Your ability is perfect for recon." Fen pointed at the inn and Ferra transformed into a swarm of bees. The swarm dispersed among the crowd, everything they saw, Fen saw.

Arco chuckled, "Yours isn't bad either Arcane."

Fen grinned, "I do like the nicknames we made… Bastion."

Arco smiled, "I do too… I miss Revamp… I miss Draxis…" Her smile faded as she remembered him.

Fen's expression dropped a bit as well. "Yeah… so am I…"

"I don't get it… why did they come back… but not him?" Arco asked with a hurt tone.

Fen shook his head, "I don't know… maybe it was his time…"

Arco's head hung low. "Maybe…"

Rance looked at them, "Look, I am sorry for your loss guys. But if you are not up for this right now, best turn back. Last thing we need here is someone messing up."

Both Fen and Arco wiped their eyes free of tears.

"I'm fine," Fen answered.

"So am I, let's get this Reap." Arco stated with determination.

Carmelita nodded, "Yes… I want to rip him apart…" She said with a fiery tone.

* * *

Kenovo entered the ruins of a dead city. He sensed the energy he knew as Sigra, a lot of it, it filled this city. _I cannot believe this… my creation has ruined a civilization…_ He felt heavy remorse and guilt as he stepped into the dark city. As he did, he abandoned his human-looking form and turned into his native appearance.

It was not long until Kenovo sensed the presence of something foul, something corrupted by the Sigra. He looked around; his red, diamond-shaped, pupil-lacking irises darted about, surrounded by his golden sclera. The cold, melancholy wind pushed on the gold ponytail his hair was tied into. He had two strands of his gilded hair hang free on both sides of his face. The cold air was barely felt by Kenovo; his blue-grey skin was strong.

Kenovo turned and saw a small, white, deformed, imp-like creature trying to attack him. Kenovo scoffed and raised his four-fingered hand.

The imp yelped as it was hoisted into the air by an unseen force. It struggled and kicked furiously, but to no avail.

"I am sorry I have done this…" Kenovo repented and made a throwing motion with his arm.

The imp was sent flying into a wall and was killed upon impact.

Kenovo sighed, "I **am** sorry…" He went quiet as sounds of chattering rang out all around him. "Well, I knew there would be more." He said as hundreds of imps surrounded him. He threw his arms up and then out in front of his body. A loud, sonic boom rang out and the imps all yelled as all of them were blasted back.

Kenovo then continued walking. _Such unfortunate pests…_ he looked up and saw a giant, mutated Hunter and sighed. _A bigger pest…_

* * *

_So, how is this going? What do you all think so far?  
_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	10. Chapter 9, Brawl

_Hey guys!_

_Again, sorry for the delay, college..._

_Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter,_

_Get ready for some action,_

* * *

Chapter 9, Brawl

* * *

Rance, Fen, Arco, Carmelita, and Ratchet approached the Prowler's Den. Sounds of music and dance came from the building. It was much larger than Oliver's inn and more crowded. Rance looked at Carmelita, "No offense dear, but you're gonna stick out in this crowd. Stay out here and keep an eye out. If you see him leaving, let us know."

Carmelita began to protest when Ratchet spoke up. "Carmelita, it'll be okay. I can look for Reap in there and you can look for him out here. Rance is right; you'd be too easily spotted in there."

Carmelita sighed, "Fine." She thought for a second. "The lombax that fired at us when Reap attacked, even though he was masked, I was able to see his ears. He had silver fur with dark blue stripes… I know I haven't been around long, but I've never seen blue stripes."

Rance nodded, "Yeah, The Hunter has that fur coloration. It's not common, keep an eye out for that pattern. It is not common, and I bet if he's here, then Reap isn't far behind."

Rance looked at Fen, "Send in your bees and stay with Carmelita, you and Arco stay with her. If Reap runs out, Arco, create a barrier to trap him."

Arco nodded.

Rance looked down at his pocket, "You ready Ratchet?"

Ratchet nodded, "Yeah, let's get him."

Fen pointed towards the inn and Ferra turned into a red swarm of bees. They scattered and flew into the rowdy building.

"That's our queue," Rance stated a moved in. He was dressed as a civilian with black pants, a cream-collared shirt, and a black vest. The red streak through his near-white hair gave him a bit of a wild look and made his bright blue eyes stand out.

Rance entered the Prowler's Den and headed for the bar. He got a glass of Black Knight and began to drink it, trying to blend into the crowd. He whispered, "Take a look around, and see if anyone looks familiar."

Ratchet nodded and peeked out of Rance's pocket. "I can't get a good view from here." He spotted a vent near the ceiling. "If I can get to that vent, I can see better and it will be harder for me to get caught."

Rance looked around, "For now, I don't see anyone that raises any red flags… hang on…"

"To what?" Ratchet yelped lightly as Rance grabbed him. Rance brought his hand back. "Aw come on…" Ratchet resisted from yelling as Rance threw him towards the vent. The yellow lombax flew through the air and wasn't noticed as he landed in the circular vent.

"Getting thrown like a toy…" Ratchet grumbled as he dusted himself off. He turned around and looked out of the vent. He saw Rance give him a wry grin. "Crazy Law Men…" Ratchet grumbled again and rolled his eyes towards Rance.

Rance chuckled and took a sip of his drink before looking around.

_How am I supposed to find him? He wore a mask and barely spoke._ Ratchet thought. _Someone that secretive wouldn't be in the middle of the action; he'd be off to the side. _Ratchet began to look around the fringe of the inn.

Every few seconds, Rance would glance up at the vent, waiting for Ratchet to signal him.

It took Ratchet a minute before he saw a pair of big, silver-furred, blue-stripped, lombax ears in the back of the room. _The Hunter; can't ID Reap but we can get the next best thing. _The next time Rance glanced up, which was a few seconds later, he nodded towards the blue-striped lombax.

Rance looked over before nodding slightly. He then motioned for Ratchet to climb out of the vent.

Ratchet nodded and looked down, he was a good fifteen feet up. At his size, normally this kind of height would be deadly. Due to the VIM however, this was not the case. He hung to the edge of the vent before letting go and falling. He landed accurately back inside Rance's pocket.

Rance then casually finished his drink and approached the targeted bax.

The target bax went still when he felt Rance's gun against his side.

"Come with me," Rance said in a low tone and volume, "I need to ask you a few…" The Occisor's reflexes served him well as he managed to quickly duck a shot. The lombax, now confirmed to be The Hunter, had spun around with impressive speed, summoned and fired his McVoy. His shot caused the bar and inn to go into panic and those that weren't blasted drunk ran out.

Rance managed to dodge the round and quickly brought his gun back up and fired it.

The Hunter knocked Rance's gun to the side enough to make his shot miss and he fired his gun.

Rance both ducked and knocked the Hunter's gun up and made it miss.

For ten seconds, Rance and the Hunter try and shoot the other at point blank range. They both exhaust the ammo in their guns and look at each other awkwardly for a second.

"Nice moves," Rance complemented.

The Hunter nodded, "You too."

They both jumped away from the other and ducked under cover.

Ratchet leapt out of Rance's pocket and grew to his normal size. "Well that was fun…"

* * *

As the first shots rang out from the bar, the rest of the gang nearby started to move in. The crowd running out slowed their progress.

Rykk froze and his white-tipped ear twitched. "Reap!"

Sure enough, there was a loud roar from above and a dark, winged shadow flew through the evening sky. He landed between the group and the inn. He was still masked and cloaked.

Carmelita growled, "GIVE ME BACK SLY!"

A dark chuckle came from Reap, "Well," his gravelly voice rang out. "That might be arranged…" He roared and flew at her.

Rykk flew up from the ground and body-slammed Reap before he could attack.

The hit sent Reap flying high and his wings extended, slowing him. He roared and dove towards Rykk; he made a shadowy fist and threw it at Rykk as he came down.

Rykk shot himself sideways and out of the way of the huge fist as it left a crater in the ground.

Carmelita yelled as she fired a stream of blue flame at Reap.

Leo quickly drew his pistols and fired, along with Atlas.

Murray yelled and leapt at Reap, bringing his metallic fist down.

Reap didn't seem to break a sweat, within a second he; threw a shadow fist at Rykk, sending him bouncing and skidding across the rocky ground, he leapt out of the way of Carmelita's fire, made a second, dark hand that blocked both Leo and Atlas' rounds, and used that same hand to catch Murray's. He then threw the big hippo aside like a toy.

Rykk tried to recover as he was sent flying but the blow was hard, even with his strength. He was dazed as his body was cut and bruised by the rocks. He was stopped when he crashed into a boulder. He hit the boulder with his back and yelped upon impact. He groaned and slowly stood up. Everything hurt and cobalt blood drizzled from the various cuts on his arms, torso, legs and face.

Murray, while not hit like Rykk, was sent flying. Thanks to his metallic skin, he wasn't injured or even cut. He was more ticked than anything.

Carmelita roared and fired another jet of fire.

Reap simply dodged it and punched her in the jaw.

The blow was so fast and hard, Carmelita was stunned and flew back.

Leo roared an intense beam of purple energy at Reap.

Reap howled when the beam struck his back. He was quick enough to shield himself with a shadow hand before the beam killed him. He quickly injected himself with some Healer and growled. "Fine, I was going to just maim… but now… I will kill you all!" He roared and summoned his blades. He then charged Leo.

Leo summoned his energy-tipped, short-sword, named Fang and managed to parry and dodge Reap's blades.

Atlas quickly reloaded his pistols but had to hold back. He couldn't get a clear shot.

Carmelita had the same problem, she growled as she watched Leo and Reap exchanged blocks and strikes.

Rykk flew towards them, his own blades drawn.

Time then seemed to go still for Leo, everything went quiet. He looked down and found one of Reap's blades in his gut. He gasped and tried to jab Reap with Fang. Bright red blood began to pour from the wound. Leo coughed and wheezed.

Atlas' eyes went wide, along with all of the others. "LEO!"

* * *

The Hunter chuckled, "Indeed, this is…" within a second, he had reloaded his pistol and fired at Rance and Ratchet.

Rance and Ratchet both rolled and dove for cover. Ratchet summoned his wrench and Rance reloaded his sleeve revolvers.

The Hunter ducked for cover to reload.

Ratchet fired a blast from his wrench and the wall exploded.

The Hunter managed to escape the blast and fired at Ratchet.

Ratchet yelped and ducked back for cover.

Rance fired back, but the Hunter managed to escape his Vector rounds.

The firefight between the three lasted for a few minutes before both Rance and the Hunter ran out of ammo.

Taking this opportunity, Ratchet charged the Hunter with his wrench. He fired a blast from it.

The Hunter raised a wrench of his own. This one was sleeker and was a polished, gun-metal grey color with dark blue highlights. An energy shield rose from the wrench's head and blocked Ratchet's blast. He then swung his wrench at Ratchet's temple.

Ratchet managed to black the Hunter's wrench with his own.

The Hunter kicked Ratchet back and swung his wrench at Rance.

Rance, to Ratchet's amazement, caught the wrench's head with his hand.

The Hunter growled as Rance tried to throw the wrench.

Rance managed to yank the wrench from the Hunter's hand and tossed it aside.

The Hunter didn't quit, he summoned a pair of energy-tipped knives. He very rapidly swung and jabbed them at Rance.

Rance managed to evade them and summoned a pair of his own.

The duo looked almost as if they were dancing as they both tried to stab or cut the other.

Ratchet could only watch… then gasped as Rance was jabbed in the arm and leg. He yelped and fell as blood began to pour.

* * *

Reap kicked Leo onto his back and was about to cut his throat. He couldn't, he turned and locked blades with Rykk.

Rykk snarled, "WHO ARE YOU?!" He quickly broke the lock and kicked Reap in the face.

Reap's mask broke free from his face.

Reap's true appearance sickened the group and they couldn't help but feel some fear.

His skin was bright red. His eyes had no white; they were bright yellow and had horizontal, black lines for pupils. His mouth was so filled with yellowed fangs that it didn't fully close. He had long, white hair and pointed ears.

Reap shrieked/roared and charged at Rykk.

Atlas ran over to Leo and gave him some Healer but it was only a temporary fix.

Rykk yelled, his anger and concern for Leo pushed him over the edge and flew into the Alter Storm.

Reap yelled and snarled as he realized the tables had turned on him. He turned tail and flew back towards the inn.

* * *

"Rance!" Ratchet yelled and charged the Hunter.

Even with his boost of anger, Ratchet yelped as he felt his legs and arms cut and he fell beside Rance.

The Hunter looked at them. "Well, well, which to die first?"

The Hunter leapt backwards in time to avoid being stabbed.

"How about you?" Six replied with a grin.

The Hunter chuckled, "Hey there Six, nice to finally see you."

Six chuckled back. "Back to you, Hunter, must say, you're near the top of my list."

"Yeah… I figured as…" With a quick motion, a flick of a wrist, the Hunter flung one of his blades.

His blade embedded in Six, the crazy bax did manage to only get the blade in his shoulder. He grunted and chuckled as blood began to ooze from the wound.

The Hunter chuckled along with Six; "I knew you were sadistic, but sadomasochistic? Well, that's interesting."

"What are you? Some kind of shrink?" Six retorted.

The Hunter shook his head, "Naw, but I do find how the mind works interesting." He tapped his forehead for emphasis. "Oh, on a different note, if you wish to get your friend back, you can. But you'll have to make a trade… here." He tossed a small tape recorder to Rance.

Rance caught it and growled.

Six growled as well, "Enough of these games!" He shouted as he ran at the Hunter.

The Hunter just chuckled as Six was knocked aside by Reap.

Reap had flown into the inn, he made a mess of the place as well and made Six fall on his face. Reap grabbed the Hunter and batted Six aside with one of his wings before flying off.

Six groaned and noticed that his nose was bleeding and growled. "Okay, I am gonna cut those two so bad…"

Six was interrupted by Carmelita as she ran in. "He's gone again…" She growled.

Fen was on her tail, "Guys, we need to go! Leo's been badly hurt, and the Healer he got won't fix him completely! He needs a doc!"

Rance grunted as he gave some Healer to himself and Ratchet.

Six also grunted as he pulled the blade out of his shoulder and crimson blood began to flow. He gave himself some Healer as well before looking at Ratchet. "Y'know… those VIM abilities would be quite handy and would help us get Reap faster…"

Ratchet shook his head. "Not so fast Six… you still haven't…"

"He's right," Rance interrupted, "They would help." He looked at Ratchet, "The lesser of two evils and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, whichever one suits you better."

Ratchet sighed, "It has to be cleared with my dad, but right now, Leo is badly hurt. We need to have him looked at."

Rance nodded, "Yeah… let's go... man I haven't had a fight like that since I was in training… it was a rush!"

Ratchet gave Rance an odd look. "But we got our tails kicked…"

Rance nodded, "Yeah, but it was still a rush!"

"…you're nuts."

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this story so far and thanks for all of the reviews! They keep me going!_

_Stay tuned and God Bless!_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	11. Chapter 10, Twisted

_Hey guys, long delay due to school, work, and me being sick. Anyways, here's chapter 10!_

_Just a bit of forewarning, Six acts a bit twisted in this chapter, hence the title. I mean, that's sort of his whole deal in that he's dark and sadistic._

_Just thought I'd let you know, it ain't exactly gory but it's just a bit disturbing, but I thought it fits his character and I have permission from Evilratchet96 to use him, thanks again!_

_Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 10, Twisted

* * *

Rance quickly looked at Leo and sighed.

Leo was bleeding badly. Without quick help, he was gonna bleed out.

Rykk lifted him gently, "I'll take him to Deacon's…" at that, he flew off.

Carmelita watched as Rykk flew off, "Deacons?"

Rance nodded, "A small medical clinic in New Elko. Its owner is one of the few that aren't scared of Rykk, or don't want him dead."

"Oi hope Leo es alroight…" Atlas said with wet eyes.

Six approached Atlas. Even though his sadistic side took some enjoyment out of seeing the worry on Atlas' face, he couldn't help but feel pity. He awkwardly patted the back of the worried Law Man.

Rance looked at the recorder he had gotten from the Hunter and played a bit with it. "I'll play you at Deacons…" he said to himself before looking at everyone. "We should go, if Leo dies… this is gonna get ugly…"

Atlas nodded, "Ef 'e doies… Oi'll rip Reap's heart out…"

Rance nodded, "I'll help, let's go."

The group arrived at the clinic in New Elko. It was on the border of the wealthy sector called Columbia Plaza.

Deacon was already working on Leo when they arrived and Rykk was sitting in the waiting room.

"How es 'e?" Atlas asked.

"Don't know yet," Rykk stated as he played with a ball of Alter.

Atlas sighed and sat down with him.

Everyone else also found a place to sit, the waiting room was empty.

Rance held up the tape player. "You guys want to hear the message?"

"Might as well," Rykk said, "I don't think we'll be moving anytime soon."

Rance nodded and played the tape.

The voice on the tape wasn't Reap's or The Hunter's, it was smoother than Reap's and was just different than The Hunter's.

"Hello, this is Mill Yates…"

Rance's eyes grew wide and he grinned.

"…and I wish to meet your group. Come to Belvedere tomorrow night at eight. There we will discuss what is to be done with your friend. Should you not show up, we will kill him, slowly. You may bring as many members of your little band as you wish. However, do not bring any Guards or Law Men that are not already part of your gang. The consequences for disobeying my orders will be swift and painful. I look forward to meeting you all, farewell."

Rance put the recording away, "He wants to kill us all."

Carmelita jumped up. "Why do you say that?"

Six sighed, "He sees your group as a problem. Someone in his kind of business gets rid of problems."

Carmelita growled, "We are going to get Sly back!"

Rykk sighed, "Yeah, we can't leave him there."

"But if we go as is, I bet none of us will make it out." Rance stated, "Yates wouldn't have set this up unless he knew he could take us out."

"But we've taken out a bunch of Attero before… why would this be different? I mean we fought off Reap and the Hunter." Carmelita retorted.

"There is something we can do that he won't expect," Six said with a bit of a grin. "Give me the VIM."

Ratchet glared a bit at Six, "Why? So you can kill all of us and get away?"

Six sighed, "No, I wouldn't hurt you brother, or any of these guys. They seem nice enough, look, if I have this, they will have no idea how to handle me." Six grinned a bit bigger, "Besides, I want to take Yates down too."

Ratchet was about to protest when Rance interrupted. "It's not a bad idea; we'll have to be quick though."

Six's grin only got bigger.

Rance contacted Kaden who was still in Velocity. He used something akin to a phone. "Sir, we've got a situation."

"What is it Rance? Are my boys okay?"

"Yes, this is about one of them too. Look, we got a message from Yates. He wants to meet our group tomorrow night, but I'm pretty sure he wants to kill us."

Kaden sighed, "What do you need?"

"We need to give Six the VIM…"

Kaden was silent for a bit.

"Are you there sir?"

"Y-yes… are you sure this is a good idea?"

It was Rance's turn to sigh, "If we go as we are, I'm pretty sure most of us will just end up dead. From what I know about Yates, he wouldn't have set this up without being able to take most of us out."

Kaden rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Alright…"

"If it's any consolation sir, Six seems to be more eager to take care of Yates than us. He just said that he wouldn't hurt us."

"Bring him to the CFALR2, I'll tell them to expect you."

"Thank you sir,"

"Be careful Rance,"

"I will be," at that the call ended and Rance turned to the group.

"I bet dad said yes?" Six asked.

Rance nodded, "Rykk and Ratchet, you two come with me and Six to Velocity. The rest of you stay here and keep an eye on Leo till we come back. We should be back in a few hours."

Six looked almost giddy as they left the office.

As they rode Kaden's Atmo to Velocity, Six was asking Ratchet about the VIM.

"So brother, what have you been doing with these abilities besides hiding in a Law Man's pocket?"

Ratchet shrugged, "Mostly crushed monsters in Parson and fought Hunters hand to hand…"

Six's eyes went wide, "Whoa… what else?"

"Well, he once used them to get information out of a pair of thugs…" Rykk said with a chuckle.

"What? How?"

Ratchet shuddered, "I acted a bit nuts and… ate one of them… bleh… he tasted awful."

Six grinned widely, "I bet he was eager to talk eh?"

"Actually, it was the one Ratchet didn't eat that talked. I never intended Ratchet to actually eat and digest em though." Rykk said, "Once he talked, I pulled his friend out of Ratchet's gut."

"I can't believe I actually did that… that felt so weird… having him in my belly… eck." Ratchet said and looked a bit sick as he remembered the feeling.

Six laughed, "I'd have digested him… that actually sounds quite nice… hehe."

Ratchet gave Six a disgusted look, "How is that in any way nice brother?"

Rance chuckled. "Because Six is a sadist, he loves hearing and seeing pain and fear on others."

Six nodded, "True, but only on criminals who deserve death like murders and rapists. I don't kill Law Men or Guards or innocents."

Ratchet sighed, "Well… seeing as how you only kill them… I guess you ain't all bad…"

Six grinned, "Naw, just nuts, hehe."

"And we're giving you VIM… wonderful…" Ratchet retorted.

It took them about an hour to reach their destination and thanks to Kaden, they were taken to the place where Ratchet, Sly, and the others got their abilities.

Like those before him, Six was strapped to a chair and was injected with the VIM. Unlike those before him, Six laughed as the enhancing drug took its painful toll. Six's muscles grew in size and his bones were hardened.

Once the drug was finished a few minutes later, the technician ran a test to confirm his new abilities.

"Hmm… like your brother you can shrink down to two inches or grow to a hundred feet tall and have very tough skin."

Six grinned widely, "Awesome!"

The scientist also tossed Six a pair of specially made shorts. They were the same kind that Ratchet had. "You should wear these unless you want to be naked whenever you grow or shrink."

Six nodded and put them on, "Eh, I don't care either way. But I will spare the others from seeing that."

"Please do," Ratchet responded.

Six chuckled, "Aw don't be like that brother."

"Come on guys, we have to move." Rance barked, "You two can continue your brotherly argument on the way back."

* * *

Atlas jumped up when the doctor known as Deacon entered the waiting room. It had been about two hours after Rance, Six, Ratchet and Rykk had left.

"How es 'e doc?"

Deacon sighed, "Your friend was badly hurt…"

Atlas' expression dropped, "H-how long?"

"If he can make it through the next four hours, his chance of survival goes up significantly. As of right now, his chances are around a 20% survival rate."

Carmelita growled and rubbed her forehead.

Fen looked at the floor.

Arco sighed.

"I can't believe this…" Bentley said.

"This sucks!" Murray retorted and growled. "I'm gonna punch Reap till he's a puddle!"

Carmelita nodded, "I'll help."

Atlas sniffled, "Alright… dear Lord… please let em live…"

Deacon nodded, "I hope so too, he's a good guy… I'll do what I can and will keep you updated."

"Tanks doc…" Atlas said and sat down.

* * *

Kenovo was walking out of Parson and seemed both annoyed and satisfied. _Those animals were quite bothersome, well; at least I got a lot of my Beings back. Not all of them of course, but most of them. Now, I know there is a few Bonded running around. I do feel bad for them though; if they are not bad ones anyways..._ Kenovo looked around and headed onto the Plain.

_Ah yes, the Lombaxes and Humans run this world. So, I should look like one of them. _At that, he morphed his body into that of a young, male Lombax. He looked rather ordinary, silver/white fur with brown stripes. The only thing that gave away that he was not a real Lombax were his eyes. His Irises were a gold color.

As he walked, he continued his inner thoughts on the Beings._ …Still, I must return order and balance; I must undo my mistake of introducing Beings to this realm. To do that, I have to take the Beings out of them… even if it does kill them._

* * *

Ratchet, Rykk, Rance, and Six returned to Deacons about three hours later.

Rykk looked at the depressed looks on their faces. "Why are you so down? What's happened with Leo?"

Carmelita sighed, "About an hour ago the doctor told us that Leo has a 20% chance of living…"

Rykk's expression turned to one of shock, "No… it can't be…"

Carmelita continued, "…but if he can hold on for another three hours, his chances of living go up."

Rykk nodded, "Well, Leo's a tough one."

Atlas nodded, "Yeah, 'e es."

Six seemed a bit jumpy and eager to try out his new abilities. "Hey Rance, can I go and test out these abilities?"

Rance sighed, "Well, I suppose if yer gonna use them, you might as well know how to. What do you want to do?"

Six grinned, "Oh nothing… crush a few scumbags… maybe eat one or two… hehe."

Rance chuckled, "While that does sound like fun, we can't afford to have Yates find out."

Six nodded, "I know, that's why I was gonna do it in New Elko; y'know, in the alleys and back roads where no one goes."

Rance nodded, "Fine, that may work." He then loaded his pistols with Alacrity rounds. "Don't try to crush or eat me though, these rounds can still hurt you and can put a Hunter down."

Six nodded, "I won't… yer not a scumbag, just nuts."

"Alright, let's go." Rance said as he escorted Six out of the clinic. "We'll be back soon."

Rance led Six to the Shine, one of two really rough parts of New Elko. Rance looked around, sounds of distant gunfire and yells rang out every few seconds. The area was dark, dank, and uninviting.

As soon as Six entered, he instantly knew this was not a good place.

"Give me a second to find a few suitable test subjects," Rance said as he ran off.

Six chuckled, _this guy is nuts, but at least he seems to know his way around and has a good way of doing things._ Six looked around and even shuddered a bit. _Bax, this place even gives me the creeps, and that' saying something!_

It was only a few minutes later when Rance came back with two KO'd people. One was a male lombax and the other was male as well but a human. Rance nodded towards an alleyway and he and Six entered it.

"You know, I thought Law Men were supposed to stop this kind of thing?" Six asked as they entered the alley.

Rance shrugged, "I'm not a typical Law Man. Occisors are assassins and scouts. I also know that these two are both wanted for multiple murders each." He held up a pair of wanted posters and let Six read them as he took pictures of each of them.

Six read the posters, "So the bax was a bit more… depraved…" he said with a low growl. "Alright, now wake em up."

Rance nodded and woke both of them up.

Six grinned as he grew, "I see." He said as his dark grin grew bigger. He looked down at the two thugs at his feet and was grinning as wide as possible.

Rance stepped back.

Six bent down and grabbed them up, one in each hand and held them up to his huge face. "My, my, you two have been quite naughty haven't you?"

The lombax thug struggled against Six's grip. "Let me go you giant!"

The human also struggled, "Yeah, what the heck are you doing?!"

Six chuckled in a dark and amused manner, "Oh me? Why I'm about to have a pair of snacks…"

The duo both stopped struggling to comprehend what they had just heard.

"…but first, I want to play with my food, hehe!" Six chuckled as he placed the human under his foot and slowly began to press down. He was careful not to crush him to death, but was still able to break a few bones. Sickening snapping sounds rang out and the man yelled but his yells were music to the twisted bax. After a minute, he grabbed the man from under his foot and held him up. "Did you like my foot?"

"You sick twisted freak!" The man yelled in pain.

Six chuckled and looked at the lombax in his hand. "I hear that you are even more depraved than he is… so… I'm gonna let you watch and see what is going to happen to you."

"Bite me!" The lombax shouted.

"Close… but no," Six grinned as he lifted the human up and opened wide. His sharp, white teeth parted, revealing Six's slimy maw.

The human looked down and yelped in fear. "NO! Please don't!"

"Funny, I bet the woman and child you killed said the same thing…" Six released his grip on the man and he fell into Six's mouth. Six roughly pushed him around his mouth with his tongue. Due to the man's broken bones, he screamed from the movement. Six's faced showed great pleasure in his yells and he continually looked at the lombax in his hand. That is, until he tilted his head up… GLURK! And the human was pushed down Six's throat, screaming.

Six laughed darkly and manically, "Oh that was grand! Hehe, bax, my brother would be sickened by this." He then looked at his last snack, "Now… your turn."

Six stepped out of the alley, he had returned to normal size. Apparently, the men inside his belly shrunk with him. Six patted his gut before laughing, "Aw bax… I loved that… hehe. I can feel em squirming and begging for mercy… this is great! URP!"

Rance led Six out of the Shine. "Well, it was kind of fun, in a dark, twisted, sickening way…"

"That's why it was great!" Six grinned, "And now I can enjoy their torment until they digest!"

Rance thought, _man this bax is messed up. I mean, yes he does only kill criminals, but still… eating people alive?! Yes I allowed him to try it out, but I had no idea how twisted this would be. Still, those two were sick killers and death by hanging or poison injections or shooting would be too quick. At least this way, they have time to think about what they have done… maybe this isn't so bad. It's still dark, twisted, and messed-up as all get out, but so are the ones he ate. I guess it is kind of fitting. But if I were given these kind of abilities, I wouldn't do what he did… eck… it's still disgusting._ Rance looked at the twisted lombax, "Come on, let's hurry back to Deacon's."

Six nodded and they headed back.

"Man that was… weird…" Rance said as he sat down in the waiting room.

"What did you guys do?" Rykk asked.

Six sat down and leaned back in his chair. "Oh I just ate some scumbags… hehe…" He said and patted his gut to reinforce his words.

Ratchet looked both appalled and sickened, "You what?!"

Six chuckled, "Aw calm down brother, they were both notorious murderers."

"I don't have as much issue with you getting rid of them… but eating them?! That's just… sickening!"

Six shrugged, "I never claimed to be sane or stable… now please, let me digest in peace eh?"

Ratchet groaned and mumbled, "Freakin cannibal…"

It was a few hours later and Deacon entered the waiting room. "Well guys, good news, Leo has made it through the hardest part, it should be smooth riding from here on out."

Atlas smiled, "Oi knew 'e would make et!"

Rykk smiled as well, "Can we see him?"

Deacon nodded and motioned for them to follow. "Now, he may not be awake, even if he is, he may not be for long so keep it brief. He needs to rest." At that h led Atlas, Rykk, Ratchet, and Carmelita to Leo.

Leo was on a rolling bed and hooked up to a few different health monitors and also had a breathing tube down his throat. That meant he couldn't talk, but his eyes opened weakly as they entered.

"Hey Leo, man, you look like you're doing well." Rykk said with a friendly smile.

Leo's response were a few weak blinks.

"Yer goin ta be foine, Oi can't wait ta be foighten along wit you again." Atlas said and held Leo's hand.

Leo again blinked weakly.

Carmelita smiled warmly, "Now you have to be well so you can see us beat Reap eh? I bet you'd love to see that."

More weak blinks from Leo.

Ratchet sighed happily, "You're a tough one Leo, I knew you'd make it. Now just relax and get better for us okay?"

Leo blinked a few more times before his eyes shut and he fell asleep.

Deacon quietly escorted them from the room. "I'd say he needs about three more days of rest before he's 100%."

Rykk nodded, "Sure, whatever he needs."

Ratchet sighed, "Yeah..."

"What's wrong?" Rykk asked.

"My brother… I just… what he did was so… disgusted and horrible… I don't want to be related to him…"

Rykk sighed, "Yeah… just hang in there Ratchet. Maybe Six isn't so bad."

"He just ate two people and acts like it were normal… how can he not be bad?"

"He didn't eat civilians or law enforcers, look, he could be a great help with Yates. We need him for now. So let's just get along okay?"

Ratchet sighed, "Alright… maybe I just need some time to process this…"

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, everything is moving so fast now."

"Let's see if we can relax for a few hours before we have to head out to Belvedere okay?" Rance suggested.

Ratchet, Rykk, and Atlas agreed and the group tried to rest for the upcoming challenge.

* * *

_Okay, so what did you all think?_

_Did Six gross ya out too much? Or at all?_

_Let me know what you liked and didn't like and stay tuned!_

_Thanks_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	12. Chapter 11, Rapport

_Hey guys, I'm back. Finally over my illness and back into the normal swing of life._

_This is also one of the longest chapters in the story so far._

_Enjoy_

* * *

Chapter 11, Rapport

* * *

The group set out for Belvedere at the appointed time.

Atlas, Bentley, and Bones stayed behind to guard Leo.

They entered the forest Belvedere rested in; its tall trees loomed over them and gave off an ominous feel.

"I always hate going into these woods…" Rykk stated and his ears constantly turned and listened for every small noise he could.

Six gave Rykk an odd look and whispered to Ratchet, "So what is he?"

Ratchet sighed, "You haven't been here long have you?"

Six shrugged, "A few weeks. I mean I know he's something called a Bonded but I don't know what that is."

"It is when something called a Being merges and joins with a host." Rykk answered, "It's a bit more complex."

Six chuckled, "Well, you seem good enough Rykk, much different than the papers said."

Ratchet growled, "Yeah, just because Rykk is a Bonded, they pretty much hate him."

"It's because of Calamity all Bonded have a bad rap." Rykk sighed, "That and being one of two Bonded around makes it hard to be heard."

Six growled lightly, "I'm sorry, that's jacked up."

Rykk nodded, "thanks."

After walking for a bit, they arrived at the dark, dank, and foreboding place.

Ratchet looked both afraid and angry, "This was Ebony's place…"

Fen put a hand on Ratchet's shoulder, "She's gone bro."

"Ebony?" Six asked.

Ratchet sighed, "Long story…"

Six nodded.

"Why Belvedere?" Carmelita asked, "I mean of all places, why there?"

"It's isolated," Rance responded, "And there's a bunch of myths and legends about it. Enough so that people will stay away, and its appearance isn't exactly inviting and warm."

Carmelita nodded as sighed as they neared the edge of the clearing Belvedere rested in.

Bones hid in one of the pockets of Rykk's pants.

"You sure got the inviting and warm part right…" Six remarked as he looked at the ancient fortress. "I mean, I'm not really scared of it, but I can't help but get a bad feeling about this place."

Rykk sighed, "Well, we have fifteen minutes till the meeting time..." Rykk's slit pupils did glow yellow, indicating that he was looking through the walls. "I see… well, he's planning for a fight. There's a small army in there…"

Six grinned, "No problem, they'll love the bottom of my giant foot hehe."

Rykk continued, "I can also see Sly. He is bound by the hands and feet. He is in the main courtyard and there is another person with him. I bet that's Yates, though I can't tell. I also bet Reap is somewhere in the small army, hiding."

"What makes you say that?" Ratchet asked.

"Because the only ones in the main courtyard are Sly and Yates; the army is in four parts, each part is lying in wait in side chambers." Rykk looked up, "Though, I do see two people in a tower above them, one of them is a lombax. I can't say for certain, but I don't think Reap is the human. However, something is a bit off about them, I don't know why."

Six grinned, "Well, let's go find out."

Rykk held Six back, "That courtyard isn't big enough for you to grow to your maximum height. If you did, you wouldn't have any room to move." Rykk looked at Ratchet, "Obviously the same goes for you too."

Six growled, "He planned it that way didn't he?"

Rance nodded, "Yates isn't dumb, and I doubt that he is going to attack us outside the fortress. I'll be surprised if we see him at all."

Six growled louder, "I knew this was a trap right off… but this sucks! I just want to tear em up!"

Rance grabbed the back of Six's neck and Six yelped and went limp. "Look, we're here to get a friend of theirs, Sly Cooper, back alive. While I want Yates' head on a stick as much as you, the priority is to get him back alive. Calm down your bloodlust, cause if you screw this up, I will have you locked in a cage." He growled lightly as he released Six.

Six glared daggers at Rance, "Don't… touch me… like that again."

Rance responded to Six's dark statement, "Don't give me a reason to. Remember, we're trying to save someone, and then if we can, take Yates out. Remember that and we'll be good."

Six glared again, only with a bit less anger. "I will…"

Rance nodded, "Ratchet and Six, you two would be better small and hidden. Ratchet, you can hide in my pocket. Six, you can hide with Rykk. If or when things go south, jump out and attack." He looked up at Carmelita, "Yates will probably talk to you in regards to Sly. Be strong but tactile. Yates will probably try to manipulate you. Don't let him in your head." Rance looked at Rykk, "You, we all know he really wants you, Ratchet, Sly, and Carmelita especially. This goes without saying, but watch yourselves."

"We have ten minutes left." Ryk said, "We can't really plan for what's coming. We just have to play this by ear."

Rance sighed, "Yeah… I know. Let's go."

Six grunted, "Great, gotta be small…" Shrinks down and looks up at the now giant Rykk. "Whoa…"

Rykk bent down and picked Six up, "Here we go. " He put Six in the breast pocket of his crimson shirt.

Six sighed, "I can't believe I'm hiding in a pocket."

Rykk chuckled, "It is kind of neat, seeing you small. Like an action figure."

Six chuckled back, "Yeah, I guess I kind of am… you're not too bad Rykk."

Rykk smiled a bit, "Thanks."

At that, the group approached the decrepit structure. They entered through its gate and entered the main courtyard.

Standing at the back of the courtyard were two figures.

Once was Sly, he was bound with his hands behind his back and was on his knees. He was also gagged, wore a collar, and was covered in grey blood.

Carmelita gasped lightly and then growled.

Next to Sly stood a young human, he looked quite well dressed and handsome. He had a dark grey, pinstripe jacket and matching pants along with a white shirt and red tie. His bright blonde hair was stylized elegantly and his face was angular and sharp. He had distinguished cheekbones and piercing blue eyes. He held a McVoy pistol loaded with Alacrity rounds.

"Ahh," Yates started, "So glad you could make it."

Rance stepped forward. "Well if it isn't the legendary Mill Yates."

Yates nodded in a slightly smug way, "Pleasure meeting you. Now, I am in a bind."

"What kind of bind?" Rance asked.

"You see," Yates continued, "You all are in the way of my enterprise. Now, this can go one of two ways. One, I give you your friend back and you stay out of my way. I will also make it worth your while. However, if you don't honor this agreement, there will be severe consequences. If you refuse this offer… well, I don't really have to say what will happen do I?"

Carmelita growled, "Just give him back!"

Yates chuckled, "Agree to the terms or I will have to get unpleasant." Yates spun the chamber of his McVoy and kept it aimed at Sly's temple.

Sly, though unable to speak verbally, his expression told them not to accept it.

Silence fell among the group as they tried to figure out a solution.

Yates smirked, "Well? Do we have a deal? I'm a busy man."

Six whispered so that only Rykk could hear. "Throw me at him. Use your Alter energy or whatever you call it."

Rykk gave a slight, unnoticeable nod and Six felt a strange tingle as he was enveloped in the strange energy.

In a quick instant, Six was shot through the pocket and at Yates. As he flew, he grew to his normal size and threw a kick.

Yates had nearly no time to react and was kicked back by Six.

Carmelita ran forward and grabbed Sly and pulled him back. She took his collar off, released him of his binds and his gag.

Yates yelped a bit as he flew back first into a wall. His back left an impression in the rock. He growled and seemed a bit irritated, "I thought this might have to get messy…"

Six growled back, "I like messy."

Yates chuckled, "Yeah, so I've heard." He picked up his gun and fired two rounds quickly into the air and the army of thugs ran in.

Yates vanished among the crowd.

Six grinned in his usual way and grew to twenty-five feet tall along with Ratchet, who had leapt out of Rance's pocket. That was as big as they could get without hurting the others of the group. Together they crushed, swatted, and kicked Yate's men.

Rykk roared and his claws extended. He got down on all fours and charged into the army and began to slash, bite, and blast the thugs with his Alter.

Carmelita yelled as she blasted the crowd of enemies with blue flame.

Sly had an adrenaline surge and growled as he leapt into a thug and possessed him. Through the thug he began to fight the army. When that thug expired, he leapt into another.

Rance summoned his pair of sleeve revolvers and began to blast away. He was quite acrobatic, running along walls, flipping, and various other moves. He alternated from blasting with his sleeve guns and hand-to-hand, often reloading as he fought hand-to-hand.

Murray was a metallic beast, plowing through the terrified Attero thugs with his fists and seismic blasts.

It took the group about twenty minutes until the courtyard went quiet and was littered with bodies.

Yates had vanished during the chaos.

Sly's adrenaline boost began to wear down but he still managed to stand.

"Where did he go?" Murray asked.

Six laughed, "Well that was easy… and he was right, it was messy!"

Rykk sniffed the air and growled, "We ain't done yet."

From the tower Rykk had mentioned earlier came a loud shriek/yell, two different ones.

Sly began to pant, "That… doesn't sound… good."

Carmelita grabbed Sly and held him up. "No, it doesn't."

A very large, lombax-shaped form leapt from the tower and landed in front of the gang. A large humanoid entity landed beside him.

The lombax stood in around fifteen feet tall and had dark blue fur, no stripes, and a row of metallic spines down its back. Its eyes were a solid white color. Its eyes had no pupils or irises. Its mouth had four fangs extending from its maw; two from the bottom and two from the top. It also had only three fingers per hand and had claws on each one. On its chest is a yellow, rectangular symbol. It wore a pair of ripped –up shorts and no shirt. It snarled as thick drool dripped from its mouth.

The humanoid-shaped one looked like it was made of black-grey smoke held together by translucent skin. It had no eyes or nose, but a mouth with yellow fangs and long, pointed ears. It had no hair at all and it had seven fingers per hand. Like the lombax monster, its fingers were tipped with claws. Though, this monstrosity's claws were longer. It wore a cloak that almost seemed to be made of the smoke inside it. On its chest was a red line with four, perpendicular lines through it.

Rykk snarled louder, "Bonded… he has two Bonded…"

Carmelita looked a bit shaken.

Ratchet gulped nervously.

Murray gasped, "Freaky…"

Even Six looked a bit frightened, "Whoa, this just got even weirder."

Rance scoffed with a grin, "Well, ain't you guys just charming."

The lombax chuckled through his fangs, "I can't wait to taste your flesh and blood! Right, Wex?"

The lombax's ghostly partner laughed; its voice shrill and sounded akin to static. "Reap was right! They look like great fun Dank!"

At that the ghoulish Bonded charged the group.

Rykk yelled and charged the lombax Bonded called Dank.

Dank roared and Rykk leapt on Dank. He began to try and slash and bite Dank and Dank started to thrash about.

Dank and Rykk's battle looked like two, feral animals trying to maul each other.

Rykk's blue blood began to drizzle from cuts he got on Dank's claws and spines.

Six growled and went to help Rykk when Wex floated in front of him. "The rest of you are mine…" At that Wex shrieked and five black, shadow figures formed. They had no face, hair, or features of any sort. They looked like they were composed of the same kind of smoke inside Wex, yet they all had claws.

Rance looked at them, "This gets better and better."

The manifestations made by Wex charged them. They all tried to slash the rest of the group to ribbons.

Six growled louder and slashed one in the head with one of his daggers. The thing yelled and reeled back and vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Rance fired two rounds into two other and they two vanished.

Carmelita burned another and it vanished.

The last one attacked Ratchet and evaded a swing from his wrench. It managed to slash his side and he yelped. He managed to throw another swing and it connected. The thing yelled and vanished.

Rance grinned, "Is that it?" He brought up his gun and fired at Wex.

Wex laughed and dozens of those things appeared. One blocked Rance's round and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Six groaned, "Nice going…"

Rance chuckled, "Whoops." He began to blast them.

Six dual wielded a pistol and knife ad blasted and cut through the crowd of shadow figures.

Carmelita blasted and burned any within reach.

Sly, using another adrenalin boost, began to beat the things with his cane.

Rykk was still engaged in his brawl with Dank. Both of them were growling and snarling and bloody. Dank's dark purple blood began to drizzle and spatter along with Rykk's blue blood.

"We need to take out Wex!" Six shouted.

He was right, for every one they killed three more showed.

Rance shouted as he was starting to get overwhelmed by them. He tried to get a clear shot at Wex but had no opening. "Six! Clear this out!"

Six nodded and grew to twenty-five feet tall and began to crush as many of the shadow figures as he can.

Rance rapidly loaded his guns with Alacrity rounds and fired. The rounds flew though a narrow opening in between the remaining crowd and struck Wex in the chest.

Wex shrieked and fell to the ground. White and black blood began to pour from his wound. There was a loud yell that came from inside him and there was a burst of white and black energy from his body. He then morphed into a normal looking, young human with dark brown hair. He breathed his last and went limp.

Dank kicked Rykk back and saw Wex fall, "WEX!" He snarled and pounced at Rykk with renewed rage.

Rykk growled and used Dank's tunnel vision to his advantage. He summoned his Tonfa-style blades and spun. He made two, very quick, deep cuts in Dank's torso and chest.

Dark purple blood began to pour all over the ground and, like Wex, Dank fell and reverted to what he was before he was Bonded.

Rykk looked quite beat up and had dozens of cuts all over, but none of them were deadly.

Carmelita shouted, "Come out here and face us you coward!"

There was a loud shriek and yell from the sky as a winged figure dove down and threw a huge, dark energy fist at them.

The energy fist impacted the ground and Rykk, Six, Ratchet, and Murray evaded the fist and were knocked back.

Reap landed where the fist had and had his blades drawn.

"Finally," Rance said, "Now, where is your boss? We really need to have a more meaningful chat with him."

Reap chuckled, "Oh I think we should talk. His mind is made up now." Reap spun and one of his giant, shadowy hands appeared and tried to swat the group.

Everyone yelped as they were knocked to the side and sent sprawling on the ground.

Reap approached and Six grew to biggest he could in that area. He growled, "You hurt my brother… I'LLL RIP YOU UP!" He ran at Reap and tried to stomp him.

Reap leapt to the side and evaded. He spun and slashed at Six's Achilles' tendon. He made it tear but didn't cut it.

Six yelled and fell on his back.

Reap leapt on Six's chest and aimed his blade for one of Six's major arteries.

Rykk yelled as he flew and body-slammed Reap. He tried to dig his blades into Reap but Reap managed to stop his blades.

Rykk flew and slammed Reap into a wall before throwing him to the ground.

Reap extended his wings and avoided crashing into the ground.

Sly yelled, anger burned and he teleported erratically and tried to nail Reap in the head with his cane.

Reap didn't expect it and got hit and fell. The hit was good, but it wasn't a killing blow. He groaned and growled as he tried to slash Sly with his blades.

Sly jumped back and avoided the blades. He tried to smash Reap's head by bringing his staff down hard and fast.

Reap threw a fast kick and Sly yelped as he was knocked back before his strike was delivered.

Rance climbed over Six and fired rapidly.

Reap used his blades to shield himself from the bolts and avoided the oncoming attacks from the others.

Six shrunk to his normal size and grunted. He summoned some Healer and injected himself. He grunted again as the tendon formed back together.

Carmelita fired a blast of flame at Reap.

Reap shielded himself with his wings before he grabbed her and threw her into a wall.

Carmelita grunted and got a bloody nose and was dazed.

Rykk charged Reap and yelled as he tried to slash him with his claws.

Reap evaded the slashes and got behind Rykk. He grabbed his tail and threw him over his shoulder like a sack.

Rykk yelped but phased into the ground and vanished. He reappeared near his friends.

Reap growled and evaded some shots from Rance and began to realize that he was losing. So, he yelled and entered the equivalent of Rykk's storm mode. Instead of becoming a storm, Reap changed into a huge monstrosity. He stood on four legs and looked somewhat similar to a dog. It seemed to be made of lava; its skin looked to be made of ashen crust. Cracks of molten orange lined its body and red-orange flames shot randomly from the cracks. Its eyes shone with a bright orange with white, horizontal-slit pupils. On the beast's back were a pair of black wings. Sharp, volcanic rock-like fangs lined its dog-like muzzle and it had long claws on its paws. The beast stood in around thirty feet tall and roared at the group.

The sight made the group take more than a few steps back.

Rykk growled and yelled as he entered the Storm. The storm flew into the ground and his Rock Beast formed and roared at Reap's Volcanic Demon.

Six and Ratchet grew to thirty feet tall and got ready for the fight.

Reap roared a stream of molten magma at Rykk.

Rykk yelled and it seemed to hurt a bit but he managed to charge Reap. He began to try and pummel Reap's head.

Reap tried to bite and slash Rykk and kept spewing molten lava.

Ratchet and Six had to stand back as some of Reap's magma splashed onto Six's arm. He yelled as it burned off his fur and badly burned him. Instead of attacking, they protected the others in the group.

Rykk and Reap pummeled each other intensely for minutes. They crushed rock walls and each of their movements sounded like thunder. Their roars and snarls sounded like giant animals fighting over territory or food.

Then Rykk got an opening and blasted Reap's neck with Alter.

Reap shrieked and jumped back. As he did, he threw a slash at Rykk.

The slash was bad enough to cause the Rock Beast to fall apart and Rykk reverted to normal.

Reap too, due to the damage done, reverted to his normal form and size.

Both Rykk and Reap were beaten, bloody, sore, and exhausted.

Reap growled and shot into the sky with his wings.

Rykk started to go after him but was knocked back by one of Reap's shadowy hands.

Rance growled, "He got away…"

Sly looked around, "He didn't take Yates though. And I didn't see or hear any carriages or other kind of transport leave."

Six nodded, "I'm going to gut him."

Rykk looked around and was panting.

"My, my, my," a familiar voice rang out as Yates clapped. "Now that was quite a show."

Six growled, "Well, you've saved us the trouble of finding you."

Yates nodded, "It would seem Reap has fled…"

"Yeah, he was really loyal huh?" Six retorted with a grin.

Yates growled lightly, "I don't have much of a choice… I surrender."

Rance held his pistols up and aimed them at Yates. "Take off all Utilities and weapons."

Yates nodded and took off a Utility belt, "Now what?"

Rance tossed him a pair of cuffs, "Put them on."

Yates put them on, his hands in front.

Six drew his daggers, "I say he dies here and now."

Rance aimed a gun at Six, "I say no. He needs to be taken in."

Six growled, "He wants us to take him! This is too easy! We need to kill him now!"

Rance sighed and lowered his gun.

Six approached Yates.

Yates grinned slightly as Six got closer.

Faster than a blink, Yates pulled his cuffs apart, punched Six in the face, disarmed him, and grabbed him

Rance's eyes went wide, "How did you do that?! Not even a Law Man could break those!"

Sly's eyes narrowed, "A Law Man can't… but a Bonded can, isn't that right? Reap?"

Yates grinned as he held one of Six's daggers to Six's neck. He morphed, his skin turned red and Reap stood there. "You forced my hand,"

Rykk growled louder, "So your normal form looks human…" Rykk reverted to his normal form. While more human than his combat form; his skin color went from being as black as can be to a slightly tanned tone and the hair on his head and back gained its purple highlights. His green eyes stopped glowing as well. "…And you go by Yates. When you enter the combat form…" Rykk reverted back to his Combat form. "…You are Reap."

Reap laughed, "I got lucky that my normal form looks… well… normal; as I was when I was a weak human. Now, about this problem we're in…"

Six grunted as the blade was pushed closer to his throat.

"You can't take us all out." Rance said, "Even if you kill Six, you can't take us all."

Reap growled, "I can…"

A loud boom came from above and everyone looked up.

Reap yelled as he was flung back by an unseen force. He was shot into a wall and hit it back first.

There was a loud thud and standing in front of the group was a blue-skinned figure. It had gold hair tied back into a braided ponytail with two strands hanging in its face. It looked humanoid but had pointed ears and four fingers per hand. His fingers hand golden fingernails at their tips. Its eyes were gold, but red, diamond-shaped, irises with no pupils. It was tall, around 7'4" and trim. He/it wore a pair of dark brown pants and a tan shirt under a grey, hooded jacket. He didn't wear any shoes and had four toes with some light webbing between them.

Reap groaned and stood up. "Who or what are you?"

The blue-skinned stranger looked at him. "I am Kenovo…"

"You a Bonded?" Reap growled.

Kenovo shook his head, "No…" He then raised one of his four-fingered hands up. "…I made them."

Reap yelped and rose into the air. He went stiff and started to convulse and shake.

A look of focus was on Kenovo's face as Reap began to yell. White energy appeared all over him.

Everyone in the group stood back and they all had wide eyes.

Reap began to shriek and a Being began to appear. It was being pulled out of Reap and Reap yelled like he was being ripped in half. His yells were inhuman and deafening. It was apparent the Being didn't want this and desperately fought Kenovo.

Kenovo was too strong and after some time, the Being flew out of Reap and was absorbed into Kenovo.

Reap yelled and then went limp. He reverted to his human appearance, though he looked a bit different in the face of his shape. His face was less angular and sharp. His blue eyes changed to brown as well.

Kenovo laid his body down carefully and gently on the ground.

Rance took a good look at Mill Yates and gasped. "I know him… or knew him rather." He paused to double-check his memory, "His real name was Joseph Lance… Governor Lance's son…"

Rykk looked stunned, "I didn't know the governor had a son!"

Rance shook his head, "He did but he vanished… it was thought he was captured or kill by the Attero."

Kenovo nodded and looked at them.

Six rubbed his neck, "Thanks… Kenovo." He also looked at Rykk, "Thanks for getting him off of me. You saved my life."

Rykk smiled, "Well, you're Ratchet's brother. And I think you're not as bad as even you think."

Six smiled just a bit. "Maybe… doubt it though."

"Well now, care to tell us what's going on? And what are you?" Rance asked with as respectful tone as he could.

"I am an Ekon…" Kenovo raised his hand towards the group and they all yelped as they hovered a dozen feet above the ground. "…and I am sorry. But I need to take my Beings back."

At that, both Sly and Rykk froze up and began to convulse.

Ratchet's eyes went wide. "Y-you're killing them!"

Carmelita yelled and cried. "NO! STOP!" She tried to struggle but couldn't reach the ground. She tried to fire a beam of fire at Kenovo but her abilities were disabled.

Six growled, "You aren't going to kill the one who just saved my life!" He tried to grow but, like Carmelita, his ability was disabled and he couldn't grow.

The rest fought and struggled.

Kenovo sighed, "I am so sorry. But in order to restore balance to your universe, I must remove the blemishes I have made. They are my mistake and I must make this right. If I could remove their Beings without killing them I would… but I cannot. It is impossible. I am sorry."

* * *

_What is going to happen next?_

_You'll have to wait and see, hehe._

_Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think._

_Stay tuned and God Bless_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	13. Chapter 12, Machiavellian

Chapter 12, Machiavellian

* * *

Rykk and Sly began to yell and white energy began to come off of them.

Ratchet, Six, Carmelita, and the others yelled and cried; powerless to stop the Ekon.

Kenovo's face betrayed a slight look of remorse and, after a few minutes, he paused and Sly and Rykk went still. "These two mean a great deal to you all… if you can prove to me that it would be a hindrance for them to reclaim them, than I will let them live."

At that, the group was set down.

Sly and Rykk were gasping and panting hard.

Carmelita ran up to Sly and embraced him tightly.

Ratchet and Fen did the same thing to Rykk.

Six growled and charged at Kenovo with his daggers drawn.

Kenovo simply stared at Six and Six flew onto his back.

Six grunted and stood, "What the heck are you?!"

Kenovo's expression showed no fear of Six, "As I have said, I am an Ekon…"

Six snarled, "What is that?!"

Kenovo showed a slight irritation at the interruption. "…If you shut your mouth for two seconds, I might tell you…"

Six growled louder from that remark.

"…I come from another realm, another universe. I made the Beings out of misguided beliefs. I recently have realized my mistake and wish to remove that which is not from your realm."

Six's angry expression changed to one of confusion along with the others.

"So wait… you're from a different dimension?" Rance asked.

Kenovo raised his arm and lowered it. "No, I am from a different universe. It is not the same as a dimension and is often erroneously thought as such."

"What kind of misguided beliefs?" Fen asked.

Kenovo actually sighed and looked just slightly depressed. "I believed that your universe was flawed. You see, in mine, wars are rare and my kind rarely fights one another. I was able to see that your universe was far from being as calm."

"So what were you going to do?" Six asked, he sounded more curious than angry at this point.

"The Beings, my intent was to make uniform Beings. These Beings would enter a host, take away whatever was wrong with that person and, essentially perfect them both mentally and physically."

"Let me guess," Rance retorted, "Things didn't go that well."

Kenovo held his arm up and lowered it again. "You are correct; however, that is only part of it. I may explain later, for now we should leave."

Ratchet nodded, "Let's go to Oliver's."

"I know where that is," Kenovo stated before turning into his lombax form. Everyone yelped as they found themselves floating in the air again. They were all grasped by invisible hands and held up.

"Here we go again…" Six said with a deadpanned look.

This time though, they found themselves flying into the sky. Kenovo was in front of them as the decrepit landscaped vanished from below.

* * *

The Hunter stood on top of a wall with a scoped rifle in hand. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. _So Reap and Yates were the same person… and WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT THING?!_ He sat with his back against the wall. He was going to fire a shot at Rykk when that blue-skinned… thing showed up and ripped the Being out of Reap! _How did it do that?!_

Kyle set the rifle down and hid behind the wall. _Screw it, I ain't gonna try and take this thing out! Who knows what else he can do! _The Hunter thought for a bit. _What the heck am I going to do now? …Well… guess there's an opening now…_

* * *

_So this is what it feels like to fly without a ship…_ Six thought and felt the rushing breeze through his fur.

Ratchet relished the feeling of flying through the sky without aid.

Carmelita was overwhelmed by the feeling. She felt… alive by the landscape moving hundreds of feet below them.

It was only a minute later when Kenovo and the group landed near Oliver's. Kenovo turned into his lombax form. The only hint that he wasn't truly a lombax was his gold eyes. They entered the bar and was greeted by the older bax bartender.

"Well… that was fun…" Sly retorted as he sat at the bar.

Ratchet looked at Kenovo, "So, what does Sly and Rykk have to do?"

Kenovo thought for a second, "I am going to observe them for a time. They just have to act like they normally do."

Ratchet nodded, "So… what do we do now? Reap is dead, and that means the Attero is leaderless."

Rykk joined Sly at the bar, "I say we relax for a bit…" Oliver slid him a class of Hunter's Blood and Rykk began to sip it.

Kenovo joined them. "I do admit, watching you two fight against Reap did encourage me to think higher of you."

"That's nice," Sly said, "I still don't get why you want to kill us. I mean, Reap sure, but it's not like Rykk and I chose to get Bonded."

Kenovo nonchalantly raised his hand and lowered it. "I do not wish to kill… but the Beings do not belong in this realm. It was a mistake of mine to banish them here. I made the Beings unable to Bond with a host. However, I did not know of the material called Valkyrie and it allowed the Beings to Bond. If a person is enhanced, or given an injection containing Valkyrie as the Being tries to Bond, the Bonding process will complete." He sighed, "I should have just disposed of them… my sympathy for them is why you are Bonded…"

"Why didn't you just get rid of the bad ones?" Rykk asked.

"Because I got impatient… and frustrated, I also did not think anyone would find them here." Kenovo responded.

"Not such a smart move eh?" Rance retorted.

Kenovo looked at Rance, it wasn't so much a glare as a cold look that told Rance that he had no idea what he was talking about.

Rance felt a small pang of fear but hid it well behind a smug look.

Kenovo grinned lightly, "You are scared of me."

"How do you know that?"

Inside Rance's mind, he heard Kenovo's voice, "Because I am inside your mind."

Rance froze and both thought and said, "Wh-what? You're in my head?"

Rykk, Sly, Six, and Carmelita looked at Rance.

"What was that?" Six asked.

Like Rance, Kenovo's voice was heard inside Six's head along with mostly everyone else's, "Hello there."

Everyone jumped at the same time, with the exception of Rykk and Sly.

Rykk did raise an eyebrow, "What are you all jumping for?"

Ratchet looked at Rykk. "You didn't hear Kenovo's voice in your head?"

Rykk shook his head and Sly did as well.

"So Bonded are immune to your mind-reading?" Six asked.

Kenovo raised his hand and lowered it again. "Yes they are… I am not entirely sure why… I think it is because of their puppets."

"Why do you keep raising and lowering your hand?" Carmelita asked.

Kenovo chuckled lightly, "It is the way my people acknowledge something. It means the same thing as your nod."

"Well that's interesting… so how do you read minds?" Ratchet asked, "Are you the only one?"

Kenovo moved his hand, but in the opposite manner. "I am not, in fact, most Ekons are born with one or a combination of three abilities: Telepathy, Telekinesis, and the ability to manipulate Sigra, or as you call it, Dark Radiation. I am fortunate that I have all three abilities…"

Everyone looked at Kenovo with wide eyes.

"Whoa… so what can you do with the Dark Radiation?" Rance asked.

"I can do many things… to list them all would take too long and I do not wish to reveal them as of now." Kenovo stated as he took a sip of some Black Knight. His golden eyes went wide and he swallowed the alcohol. He then coughed a bit, "Oh my… that feels like I just swallowed a flame…"

Rykk chuckled, "What, you don't have alcohol in your realm?"

Kenovo did the hand motion that signified they did not. "We have other ways… how do you consume this?"

"We just do, some cannot get enough." Sly remarked.

Oliver got off his radio, "Hey guys, I just got a call from Deacon…"

Rykk did a facepalm, "Leo! I can't believe we didn't go back!"

"Well," Oliver said, "The doc says he'll be fine and they're coming here soon via an Atmo. Also Ratchet, your dad is on the way as well. I gave him a call when you guys arrived."

Rykk smiled, "I knew Leo would make it! He's a tough one!"

Ratchet too smiled, "That's awesome! Thanks Oliver, seems like things are finally calming down."

Oliver approached Six, "Someone left a letter for you."

Six rose an eyebrow, "Who?"

Oliver shrugged, "Don't know. It was a girl bax."

"What did she look like?"

Oliver thought, "Um… gold fur, black stripes, long gold hair, and gold eyes."

"Gold eyes huh? I didn't think most baxes had gold eyes…" Six looked around and say Kenovo's lombax form. "Hmm… thanks Oliver," he took the note.

_**Hello, meet me at the south side of Velocity's square near The Open Paige Bookstore in a week.**_

_**-M**_

Six sighed, "Okay, who the heck is this?" He said softly. _She had_ _gold eyes huh? Another Ekon? What the heck is going on?_ Six slid the note into one of his pouches without anyone seeing.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Plain a tall figure emerges from a white portal. His pale skin almost shines in the sun and his long, black hair is pulled back into an elegant ponytail. His unearthly eyes looked around, _What in the world… where am I? _Shade looked back at the portal through which he came. The white portal had vanished and he sighed. _Well that's just great…_

He looked up and saw a city a few miles away. He made his way towards it. The walk wasn't all too comfortable as he was wearing black boots, black pants, a crimson shirt covered by black, dress-military-styled jacket with gold buttons.

As he neared the city, he saw that it was inhabited by a species alien to him. They had long ears, were covered in fur of various colors and had tails.

_What kind of world did I come to?_ He then noticed that there were some humans among them as well. _Well… at least there's some humans here. I need to get back to earth and finish my plans… but how?_

Shade entered the city and got more than a few odd looks. He ignored them; he was used to that sort of thing. Besides, he had more pressing issues anyways.

Shade then noticed that he was being followed by two uncouth looking people. One was one of those strange looking aliens, the other a human. Shade sighed mentally, _Great, just entered this city and already I'm being set up for a mugging._ He glanced over his shoulder. _The human has a very slight limp… should hit his right leg, just above the knee first. Then a blow to his head to daze. While he's reeling, block his friend's attack, and go from there. I bet his ears and tails are quite sensitive as well. All else fails, I have my Sai._

Shade turned a corner and walked into an alleyway.

The two followed him.

"Well, well, ain't you well dressed?" The human remarked with a grin. He then raised his gun at Shade.

"Yeah, and you have to pay a… fee." The cat-alien said, he was also grinning and he held a pistol as well.

Shade sighed, "Fine…" Shade spun, grabbed the human's gun and knocked it to the side. At the same time he threw a fast, low kick at the thug's leg.

A loud snap rang out and the human yelled.

Just as quick, Shade threw a knee to the human's face and the human slumped to the ground.

The attack took out his partner so quick; the cat-alien barely had any time to respond. He managed to raise his gun.

Shade hit the cat-alien's wrist and knocked the gun out of his hand. He also grabbed his furry arm and spun the thing into one of walls of the alley.

The furred thug with big ears recoiled from the hit. He quickly stood, growled, and threw a kick at Shade's legs.

Shade parried the kick with his leg and blocked a punch. He then threw three punches to his attacker's face.

The cat-alien yelped and was stunned by Shade's hard blows. Shade grabbed the thug by his neck and lifted him up. His furred attacker gasped and grunted as he was lifted off of his feet.

"Now…" Shade started, "What are you, and where am I?"

"I'm… a… lombax…" The thug grunted, "You're… in… Velocity…"

_Interesting… _Shade looked at the lombax in his grasp before throwing him into the opposite wall. Shade reached into his jacket with both hands and withdrew his sharpened Sai. With a simple motion, the black blades did shine; its edges had a white glow against the obsidian blades.

"Wh-what the heck are you?! A Bonded?!" The human thug cried out at the sight of the blades.

Shade turned, "I have no idea what that is. I am simply part of the next step of the human race. And I will improve humanity and these… lombaxes as well. However, I do not like to be mugged and quite frankly, you offend me with your presence."

Shade then fatally stabbed the human in the neck. He had as cold and distant expression as he watched the person die, no feelings of empathy or remorse. If anything, he felt annoyance and maybe some anger as he did so.

_Well, that was somewhat informative._ Shade thought as he casually deactivated his blades, the white glow faded away and he wiped the blades clean on the human's clothes. _This world may be better than I thought…_ He then looked at the lombax. "Now… you may come in handy…" His mouth twisted into a dark grin.

* * *

_Hey guys, sorry about the long delay. Had some writers block. Hopefully I've gotten over it and you guys like this chapter._

_The main problem was I think I killed Reap off too soon._

_However, I think I have a very suitable replacement in Shade._

_Shade is the main villain in my book, The Jolt._

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews. I use them to improve my writing skills. It disappoints me when I see the notification that I have a review and I click on it and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum. If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	14. Chapter 13, A New Head

Chapter 13, A New Head

* * *

Kenovo looked at Six curiously and approached him. He sat down at the bar next to Six, "Can I see the note?"

Six furrowed his brow a bit, "You know that mind-reading trick of yours is rude."

"Perhaps… may I still see the note?" Kenovo insisted.

Six growled lightly as he pulled the note out and handed it to Kenovo.

"Why do you need to see it if you could just read my mind?" Six asked.

:Because you might have missed something, the type of paper, the style of writing, stuff like that." Kenovo responded as he looked at it and his face showed little expression. What little expression there was, betrayed concern.

"What is it?" Six asked.

"I do not know right now."

Six narrowed his eyes a bit, "But you have an idea."

Kenovo thought for a second, "I do..."

"Care to share? Cause whoever this is seems quite interested in me."

"I will say when I think it is appropriate, if I am right, than this could be very personal. Seeing how I just met you, I do not want to reveal any more than I wish." Kenovo said as he took another sip of his drink.

Six growled lightly. "Fine, so what the heck are you doing here? Are you a friend of ours or not?"

Kenovo looked at him. Rykk, Sly, and most everyone looked to see what his answer would be.

"I do not wish to be enemies, I just need to figure out what to do with these Bonded."

"Why do anything?" Ratchet asked. "The way I see it, the Beings are yours but once they bond with a host, they aren't. I mean, unless the Bonded is like Reap, you should just leave them be, they're not hurting anyone and they're quite cool. Plus they help out a ton when we have to deal with the bad ones or just really tough bad guys in general."

Kenovo thought for a minute. "You do have a point young lombax…"

"I never asked to be Bonded…" Rykk stated.

"Neither did I," Sly added. "Another Bonded made me this way." He looked at his blue-grey fur and sighed.

"I did not expect this," Kenovo said, "I did not expect there to be that many Bonded. Forgive me, my kind do not consider Beings to be living things, as equals. So by extension, I considered Bonded the same way."

"What are the Beings?" Rykk asked.

Kenovo looked at him and sighed, "To put it simply, they are most similar to what you call A.I.s. However, they do not reside in computers. They reside in our minds and help us in a multitude of ways."

"So, you bind with them like us?" Sly asked.

Kenovo lowered his hand and raised it a bit, "No, for one, my kind are able to take Beings into us and take them out at will. It is as easy as putting on or off a coat. And two, these Beings were engineered to be different, I meant for them to be Bonded. Other Beings are meant to be assistants."

"How do dey help ya?" Atlas asked.

"Beings operate in our minds, they can give us energy, they remind us of tasks we need to do, and, depending on their personality, they can be quite friendly."

"Huh, well that's interesting…" Rykk said.

Kenovo looked at Rykk and Sly, "I see no reason to reclaim your Beings… for now."

"So what are your plans Kenovo?" Rykk asked.

"…I do not know, I might just seek some relaxation with your group, at least for a short time before I go and seek the rest of the Beings."

Leo and Kaden arrived and Ratchet did hug Kaden along with his brother. Kaden limped a bit but was standing on his two feet. He still had a decent amount of bandages on him, but he was much more mobile.

Rykk, Sly, and Carmelita helped Leo into the inn/bar. He was using a crutch to walk around. He had a bandage on his belly and grunted. "Hey guys… what did I miss?"

Sly chuckled, "Oh we killed Reap, or more specifically, a resident from another universe. This resident; made the Beings and is now, apparently our friend…"

Leo gave Sly an odd look, "…I leave you guys alone for one day…" He chuckled.

"You know that with Yates dead, it will create a power struggle in the Attero." Rance stated, "This would normally tear a gang apart, but the Attero is huge…"

Atlas nodded, "Dis will be interestin' but e' don't ave many moves roight now."

"Who said this gang is going to survive at all?" Ratchet said with an cheery tone and he hugged Kaden and even Six.

Six chuckled lightly, "Quite the optimistic one aren't you brother?"

* * *

Shade turned away from the lombax. He had taken him to an empty warehouse nearby.

Shade had strung up the scared thug by his hands and used his Sai to… make him more friendly. The lombax whimpered and cried as Shade made a bunch of cuts and stab wounds. None were lethal, but very painful.

His captive had been very open with questions about the world. The world was called Agrona and the city was called Velocity. He told Shade about things called Bonded and two in particular called Calamity and Rykk. Shade was intrigued about these two, but this thug didn't know much about them.

However, he was getting very stubborn with regards to questions about his employment.

"Who do you work for?" Shade asked.

"The Attero…"

"Who or what is that?"

"The biggest gang on Agrona, and they'll gut you!"

Shade chuckled, "We shall see, who runs it?"

"Yates… Mill Yates…"

"Tell me everything; what does your gang specialize in? How do they operate? What methods of communication do they use? And what businesses do they operate out of?"

Shade's captive growled, "Go get crushed by a Hunter! I ain't telling ya nothin!"

Shade took a few steps back, "I severely doubt that…" At that, Shade thrust his hand forward; his palm faced the captive. A loud crack of thunder rang out as a black lightning bolt leapt from his palm. Highlighting the edge of the bolt was a glowing white color.

The lombax thug yelled and convulsed as the black lightning ran through him. The pain was unbearable as it arced through him.

Shade cut off the lightning and some steam billowed off of his captive.

The thug went limp and was breathing hard.

"Now, are you more cooperative?"

"Wh-what are you?!" The lombax shouted.

Shade got an inch from his face, "I am Shade, and I am the future. Now tell me about the Attero."

The lombax was now more scared than ever, "O-okay…"

Shade grinned slightly.

* * *

After making a quick call; The Hunter made his way to New Elko. Once there, he entered what looked to be a typical restaurant called Jenny's. He nonchalantly made his way to the back and opened a door. Just looking at it, you'd think it was a closet. However, pushing a button on the side of the "closet" caused the back to open up. The shelved-back turned and revealed a spiral staircase.

Kyle Troy/The Hunter descended the staircase and walked down a short hall. The carved, crimson rock walls led into a meeting chamber. A table with about a dozen people around it populates the middle of the room. Some of the crowd were lombaxes and some were human and they all looked at Kyle as he entered. Almost all of them are dressed sharply.

"What the heck is going on?" A big lombax asked, "Why'd you call a meeting without Yates being here?"

Kyle sat at the head of the table where Yates usually sat. It was a old move and his heart pounded. "Yates is no longer with us..."

A stunned silence was among the group of Attero leaders.

"Wh-what happened?" A tall and thin human asked.

Kyle sighed before he explained what he had witnessed. When he told them that Reap and Yates were the same person, the crowd looked stunned.

"That clever Bonded..." the lombax from before stated before looking at Kyle. "And you think you can just take over this gang?"

Kyle nodded, "I was one of his top men, and this way, we avoid a huge and bloody power struggle."

The big lombax stood up, "What gave you the idea that we would just let you assume the head of this organization?"

Kyle looked calm but was shaking inwardly. "Because I know and have what it takes to lead. And gentlemen, you all know what I do and how good I am at it. Now I want us all to be friends, don't force me to be unpleasant. Hasn't this gang lost enough?"

The crowd looked unsure, they all knew how deadly Kyle Troy was. Despite their hunger for power, the risk was too great to go against him. Plus, though he usually worked alone, he had plenty of friends among the gang, even among their own men. If nothing else, he would be a good placeholder until one of them came up with a plan.

"So," Kyle started, "All in favor of me heading the Attero raise your hand."

It was a unanimous "yes".

* * *

_Well, not a long chapter but hopefully you all liked it._

_Thanks for reading, what did you think?_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	15. Chapter 14, Busy Little Bees

_Hey guys, hope you like this next chapter, and I made it the longest one yet._

_Enjoy,_

* * *

Chapter 14, Busy Little Bees

* * *

Due to there not being much to do, the gang was simply chilling at Oliver's. A few had decided to take a nap and some were chilling at the bar.

Kenovo decided to explore the inn a bit and made his way to the basement. Once down the stairs, he found Bentley, Bones, and Clank huddled over something on Oliver's workbench. "What are you doing?"

Bentley looked up, "Oh hi Kenovo, we're just trying to build a device that will find portals."

"I see, how is it going?"

"Well," Clank responded, "We have just started. Do you think you can help us? I bet you know more about them than we do."

Kenovo raised and lowered his hand, "That statement is true, and I will." The Ekon in the form of a lombax looked at Bentley, "Do you seek to go back to your world?"

Bentley sighed, "Yeah, at least for a good visit. Sly, Carmelita, and Murray want to come as well. But that is all moot if we can't find a portal back."

"If I remember correctly, and I am, you would be looking for a blue and white-colored portal." Kenovo stated. "Tell me what you have made so far..."

"Okay," Bentley said, "Well, right now we're just trying to come up with the plans and concept..."

"Some portals go through space, others through time; the ones that go through time are extremely rare and are always white. The ones that go to and from my realm to yours are always yellow and white and are rare as well. The ones that lead to this world are always red and black; each world has its own color. In addition, the energy for each type of portal is different. For example, those that lead to another planet are quite different than the ones that lead to my realm."

"So what do we have to do first?" Clank asked.

Kenovo thought, "Well, here is what you will need..." Kenovo then gave them a list of materials. "You are fortunate that you can find most of these supplies in this world."

Bones holographic head nodded, "I know where most of those are. As for the others, I can find them."

Kenovo, "Get those things and find me when you do."

Bentley, Clank, and Bones nodded before heading out to get what they needed.

* * *

Shade made his way to a small house near the outskirts of Velocity. It looked ordinary, maybe a bit rundown. He knocked on the door and a voice rang out. "Who's there?"

"Let me see your boss."

"Why?"

"I have some important business to discuss with him."

"What's your name?"

"Call me Shade,"

"One second," Shade could hear distant voices speaking for a bit before the guard returned. "He don't know no Shade, now get lost."

"Wrong answer," Shade said right before he kicked the door in. The strength behind his kick was great enough to make it splinter and send the human guard behind it sprawling onto his back.

Shade ran in, and he kicked the gun from the hand of the guard before he kicked the guard in the face. The guard yelped and was knocked out by the kick to the head.

With lightning speed Shade turned and formed a black, energy shield that blocked rounds from a scared thug's pistol. Shade hit his palm against the shield and it did blast the scared thug into the wall, knocking him unconscious.

As the scared thug yelled and crashed into the wall, Shade shot out a thin line of shadowy energy and it latched onto another thug that had emerged from a hallway. Shade yanked on the line and the thug yelled as he was jerked towards Shade. Shade threw a spin kick and hit the thug on the side of the head. The lombax was badly stunned and was KO'd when he crashed into the wall.

Two thugs charged him and fired. One had a shotgun-like weapon and the other had a pistol. Shade evaded their shots and threw one of his Sai at the shotgun-wielding thug. The thug yelled as the blade sank into the base of his neck and he fell. Shade shot an energy grapple and yanked the one with the pistol into his grasp. He then shoved the blade of his other Sai into the thug's torso and tossed him aside to die.

_Where are you?_ Shade thought as he yanked the Sai he had thrown out of the dead thug. Louis Henderson was his target, his captive's higher-up and the head of a small arm of the Attero. Shade had some questions for him and thought he'd raid him as well. _Heh, I could use the funds. I mean, if I'm gonna make this world like Earth, which I should, I'm gonna need money and power._ He thought as he ran into the hall. He heard movement and ducked out of instinct and avoided being shot in the head. At the same time, he spun one of his Sai into a reverse-grip and drove it into his attacker's foot.

The thug yelled in agony as the sharp, energy-tipped blade skewered his foot. He tried to fire at Shade again. Shade rolled out of the way of the round and looked up. He saw that it was Henderson; he was an average-height human with blonde hair and a distinctive scar on his face. Henderson raised his pistol; he was grinding his teeth in pain and fired. Shade leaped up and bounded off the wall. In midair, he fired a black, lightning bolt. The bolt struck Henderson and he yelled as he passed out.

Shade chuckled, _too easy._ He slid the unconscious Henderson off to the side, bound his arms and legs with rope, and then looked around to find their stash of funds.

Shade left the room Henderson was in, after it was evident the stash wasn't there, and made his way to another. In that room, he found what looked to be some kind of lab to make an unknown drug. _Things aren't much different here, even with these lombaxes around._

Shade continued his search and came upon a safe in a backroom. He grinned as he knelt down to it. _If only I had a blowtorch... _Shade chuckled as a small blade of black energy appeared on the tip of his finger. He pushed the blade of dark energy into the metal door of the safe and the blade cut through it like a hot knife through butter.

Once the lock was cut, Shade opened the safe and found four sacks of the currency called Icons. Each sack was a little bigger than a softball. Shade smiled as he opened one and it revealed that it was full of Gold Icons. He quickly checked the other three and they were also filled with Gold Icons. _Looks like their bosses were going to pick these up. Too bad, they're mine now._

Shade looked down at this newly-acquired Utility and put the Icon sacks into it. _Interesting technology, you'd think it'd be too advanced for this society just by looking at them._

Shade heard footsteps coming towards the room he was in. _Must have been guards I missed..._

Sure enough two, tough-looking lombaxes came storming in. Before they got a chance to fire their guns, they were both jabbed by Shade's Sai multiple times in the stomach and chest. They then fell down in a bloody heap and Shade stepped over them.

He returned to the room Henderson was in and picked up his target. Shade slung him over his shoulder and started to walk out.

As he did, with his free hand, Shade slashed another thug with his Sai. His slash cut the man's neck and blood went everywhere.

Shade grinned with a slight sadistic glee before he quickly made his way back to his dilapidated hideout and strung Henderson up next to his first captive. "Okay guys, here's the deal, you help me and I'll make you more wealthy than you can imagine. You refuse to help, and I get you to tell me what I need to know and then I cut you up." _I could really use both of these guys. I need to get them on my side somehow... gotta find their weaknesses and lure them._ Shade grinned inwardly as he had a knack for observation and reading people.

"I ain't telling you nothing!" Henderson shouted.

Shade tossed one of the sacks of Icons at Henderson's feet. Some of the Icons fell from the bag and Henderson watched as they sparkled on the dirty floor. "You agree to help me and that is yours, and you and I both know that you were only going to get a very small portion of that. The rest was going up the chain. That was why you were skimming a little off the top weren't you?"

Henderson looked at the money, his greed was making Shade's offer very tempting. Besides, that sack was five times what he made in a month. Yeah, he was taking a little extra for himself. He didn't care about the risk of being caught, he just wanted more money. Henderson simply nodded in response.

Shade grinned; _look at him, all he cares about is money. It's pathetic; of course it's perfectly reasonable to assume he'd be stealing from his boss. I mean, his face practically says it all._

Shade then looked at the lombax and tossed him a sack as well. "You too, and I am sorry for what I had to do to you..."

"You tortured me!"

Shade summoned some Healer; he had picked it up during the raid he pulled. He injected it into the lombax thug who sighed in relief. "Now, you help me and I won't torture you and I'll help you pay for your daughter's schooling..." Shade remarked with a wry smirk.

The lombax looked at Shade. "H-how did you kn-know that?"

Shade shrugged, "I found a business card of a teacher at New Elko University in your pocket. Well, you're obviously not the student so I assumed it was your child or children. However, how I could tell you had a daughter and not a son was a bit harder. I got a hint when I got the whiff of something lightly feminine on you. It didn't smell like anything the women on the street wear nor did it smell like something a fully grown, adult woman would wear either. The biggest clue though was a crumpled up receipt to a clothing store. You bought a small skirt... not exactly your style. So, she's 19?"

"Almost... she turns nineteen in two months... so you will pay for her schooling?" The lombax asked. It was evident he was struggling to.

Shade nodded, "I will," he then looked at Henderson. "What say you?"

Henderson looked up. "What's your plan?"

Shade thought for a second, "To lead the Attero."

"Hmm..." Henderson thought, "That's interesting, cause our leader was just killed."

"Someone take his place yet?"

"One of the best assassins we have, he's known as The Hunter."

"What do you know about him?"

"That's it," Henderson stated, "I ain't in that business; I just deal and handle money."

Shade cut them loose. "Well, stay with me and I promise the both of you, we'll be like kings."

The two thugs looked at each other. They both knew there was no way they could take Shade on, even together. His combat skills were far above theirs and they could see how intelligent he was. Plus, his promise to make them rich, coupled with the visual aid of the sacks of Gold Icons was too much of a temptation.

They both nodded.

Shade grinned, inwardly of course, as he shook their hands.

He had no intention of sharing.

* * *

The Hunter sat at his newly-obtained desk. He felt more than a little impressed with himself for acquiring the position of the head of the most powerful gang on Agrona. He was dressed in a nice, charcoal-colored, pinstripe suit and matching pants. Under the suit he had a white shirt and a dark blue tie. Of course, under his attire, he was well-armed. He had a pair of concealed sleeve-guns, and a Utility hidden under the shirt and suit. _All of the money I'll ever need, any woman I want, and everyone either fears or respects me. Bax, that was easier than I thought it would be._

The first order of business was finding out those who killed his predecessor and make them wish they had never been born. The Attero's resources were many and he had called a meeting to address this issue.

Kyle looked up at the clock on the wall. _Should head out now, don't want to be late to my first meeting as the leader of the Attero. _At that, Kyle left his office. It was in one of the top floors of one of New Elko's enormous towers, the 148th floor to be exact. This tower was just a little bit more than 1,500 feet tall and his office overlooked the city's second story.

He left his office and took the elevator to the 130th floor and walked down two hallways to get to the meeting room. I was composed of the same members as from Kyle's last meeting, only without their henchmen. Kyle unbuttoned his suit as he sat down in his chair.

"So Mr. Troy," a tall, well-dressed human, whose name was Peter Solomon said, "Now that you're in charge... what are your plans?"

Kyle took a breath, "First, we're going to hunt down the ones who killed Mill Yates/Reap..."

His response was met by eager nods. While mysterious, Yates knew how to run the gang and if you showed him respect, he'd show it back.

"...and we'll make them wish they were never born. We'll use all of our contacts in the Law Men, the Guards, and any politicians on under our influence to find them."

One of the older members grinned a bit. He was an older lombax with graying, orange fur and silver stripes. His name was Micheal Everhart, but his friends called him Mike. "Not bad kid, you got guts. However, do we have the kind of personnel to handle this blue-skinned thing? Keep in mind, this thing managed to kill Reap within seconds and he never touched him. It's apparent that using any of the Bonded we have under our thumbs wouldn't work against him."

The other's eyes were on Kyle to see how he'd respond.

"Which is why we won't touch him. Once we have a location, we can setup a marksman to take it out. We can use O'Bannon..."

Peter spoke up, "O'Bannon? That psychopath? The last time one of us hired him, he killed the target for sure, but he also took out the one that hired him!"

Kyle nodded, "Perhaps we shouldn't use him right off... what we really need first is some recon..."

Mike nodded in response. "I'll handle that, I've got someone in mind."

"There is one more thing before we go," A lombax with more than a little weight on him said. His name was Benny Carson, "Earlier today someone raided one of our Neuroin labs, killed most of the men there and Henderson, one of the regional managers, was taken. There are a few survivors and they claim that it was one man."

"One man huh?" Kyle asked, "Did they get a look at this guy?"

Benny nodded, "Yeah, they said he was very pale, had black hair in a ponytail, and some really weird eyes, almost supernatural looking, oh and one of the men said he called himself Shade."

"Sounds like a new Bonded, dang those things keep popping up." Kyle retorted.

"Well, he was quite skilled for taking out lab without even a scratch." Mike stated. "That and he stole the 5,000 Gold Icons that were waiting to be picked up there."

"5,000 Gold?" Peter asked, "Holy crap..."

Mike nodded, "Mr. Troy, I say that this guy... Shade, should be a priority, not on the scale of those who killed Yates, but he needs some attention."

Kyle thought for a second. "Okay, put the word out, 3,000 Gold Icons for any information on this Shade person. Who knows, he might be with our little gang of enemies."

The group around the table nodded.

"That's all for now, thanks for coming." Kyle said as he stood up and buttoned his jacket. _We'll make those freaks pay for Reap/Yates, and this Shade... heh, no one said this job was easy._

* * *

Meanwhile in Velocity, a golden-eyed, female lombax made her way down the street. Her eyes got a few second glances from pedestrians and some flirtatious looks from a few guys. She ignored them and made her way to an apartment building. It was a decent complex, not run down but nothing fancy either. She made her way to her room and locked the door behind her.

"Did you deliver the note?" A masculine voice rang out; it had supernatural notes to it. It had notes of authority, charm, intelligence, and strength.

"Yes, it was actually a nice place." The golden-eyed lombax said as she walked into the small living room.

Sitting on the couch was a tall, muscular, lombax. He had dark brown fur with silver stripes. He didn't have a shirt on, this revealed dozens of scars all over his torso. That wasn't his most striking feature, that was reserved for his crimson eyes.

"That is good," the big, male lombax stated.

"I think Kenovo is with them..."

The red-eyed lombax paused before chuckling, "Is he now? Well, this just got more interesting. I wonder if he will join us."

"Do you think this lombax calling himself Six will?"

The red-eyed lombax shrugged, "Perhaps, I hope so... he seems to hate those that commit evil as much as we do."

"If not?"

A deep, amused chuckle rang out from the big lombax's throat. "Well, then it will not matter. It's not like he poses any threat to us."

* * *

_Well, finally made a decent-length chapter and I hope you all like it._

_Thanks for reading,_

_Jerod2447_

* * *

Please use the review section for **_reviews only_**.

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And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

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I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

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If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.


	16. Chapter 15, Preparations

Chapter 15, Preparations

* * *

"So, besides raw materials already in Oliver's scrap bin, we've got: the super-conducting gel, nano-wave induction coils, the cobalt sputter, the BHF capacitor, and the photonics beam emitter." Bones listed as they stood outside a small gadget shop in Velocity.

"What else do we need Bones?" Clank asked.

"Um… an AME heatsink and a micro-diode array," Bones answered.

"Any idea where we can find those?" Bentley asked.

"I think I know where the micro-diode array is, but not sure on the AME heatsink…" Bones responded.

"Kenovo said that all of the parts are on this world." Clank pointed out.

"It's a big world, but I know a few more shops, scrapyards, and a few other locations where we might find the heatsink." Bones said.

"Show the way," Bentley motioned for them to.

The two AIs on their floating devices led the turtle in the wheelchair down the crowded street.

They soon came upon a small, gadget and tech shop. It looked decently kept compared to some of their previous inquires.

"You guys check out this one," Bones said as they stood at the shop's entrance. "I'm going to check out another one nearby, save time."

Clank nodded, "We will see you shortly."

Bently waved, "See ya." At that, Bones floated into the other tech shop while Bentley and Clank entered the current one.

Most of the merchandise was on the shelves and the cheap stuff was in a bin. The place was mostly empty save for one guy. He was a tall human with long, dark hair and unusually pale skin. He had on a coat and a hat. He was having a slightly heated discussion with the shop owner.

Bentley swore he heard something about an electro-tuner and he caught the man's first name. _Darren huh? Interesting name, _Bentley was curious but didn't want to be rude so he followed Bones and helped him look for the parts they needed.

After a few minutes the tall customer left and looked more than a bit ticked. He seemed to hide his face and neither Clank nor Bentley got a good look at his features.

_Looks like someone is having a bad day._ Bentley thought as the clerk at the counter looked up and saw them.

The clerk was an older human and he looked more than a little tired and weary. His nametag read, "Evan" and looked a bit old and worn too, evident that he had been working there for some time. "Welcome to The Tech Hut, how may I help you?"

"Hello good sir," Clank started, "We're looking for a Micro-Diode Array and an AME Heat-Sink, do you have either of those?"

Evan nodded, "I believe we have the array but I think we're out of stock of AME heat-sinks."

Bentley sighed, "Man, those heat-sinks are hard to find..."

Evan came from behind the counter and headed towards some shelves. "Yeah, they're expensive and rare, but very efficent. Now, let's see... Micro-Diode Array... Micro-Diode Array... Micro-Diode Array..." He kept repeating as he searched through the slightly-cluttered shelves until a yell of discovery rang out,"Ah, here's one." He grabbed the part and bagged it up.

Bentley paid for it and as he was checking out he asked, "Rough day huh?"

Evan nodded, "Yeah, you just can't please some people and others get upset at me for enforcing rules that I didn't make..."

"Yeah, we heard ya arguing with that last customer."

Evan sighed, "He just needed the correct paperwork for the part he wanted. Apparently he didn't have it and insisted I charge him more for the part to make up for the papers he lacked... I refused the bribe."

"What did he want?"

"An Electro-Tuner, something which you need a license to own."

"Oh, huh, sorry, well I hope the rest of your day goes well." Bentley waved as he headed for the door with Clank.

"Good day to you sir," Clank bid farewell too.

"Take care guys," Evan responded.

Clank and Bentley regrouped with Bones and he also didn't find the heat-sink in the other store. So they set out to look for the last, elusive piece of tech.

They eventually found the AME heat-sink but that took them another three hours to track down. It also cost a good amount, fortunately for the group, Bones had a ton of Icons saved up and it made only a little dent in his account.

"Well that is all we need." Clank said, "We should get back and have Kenovo help us put this together."

Bentley nodded, "Let's go."

As they made their way back, they passed the shop where Bentley found the micro-diode array. The windows were shattered and there were Law Men surrounding the store with danger tape all around it, designating a crime scene. On the glass were some speckles of crimson blood and the inside of the shop looked ransacked. Clank and Bentley gasped lightly at the sight of a covered body being wheeled out on a gurney.

"Whoa," Bentley said, "What happened here?"

"Perhaps it was that angry customer from before?" Clank suggested.

"Angry customer?" Bones asked.

Bentley nodded, "Yeah, when Clank and I went in there earlier we saw a customer arguing with the clerk. Apparently he didn't have the necessary paperwork to own the part he wanted to buy."

One of the Law Men approached them. "I'm sorry, but I overheard what you said, would you please describe this man?"

Bentley nodded, "Well, he was human, tall, had pale skin, black hair, hat, dark coat, and sounded angry. I didn't get a good look at his face though. Seemed like he wanted to hide it."

"I see," The Law Man said and wrote the info down. "You sure you ca't give me any details about his face?"

Bentley scanned through his memories, trying to see if he missed anything. "I think he wore sunglasses of some sort... That's all I remember. Oh yeah, he was trying to get something called an Electro-Tuner."

"An Electro-Tuner huh?" The Law Man sighed at the lack of physical details but wrote down what he was told. "Okay... we'll do the best we can with what we got."

"Sorry we don't know more sir." Clanks added.

"We're getting the security footage now, hopefully we'll find something from that. Thanks for your help," At that the Law Man returned to his job.

"Well that is unfortunate... Evan was a nice person." Clank stated with remorse.

"Yeah," Bentley agreed, "That mystery guy that killed him is a coward."

* * *

Shade tossed his hat aside and looked at the Electro-Tuner he had recently "acquired". _It's unfortunate that I had to do that, but I needed this part. It's the last piece I need to finish my hacking device. I'll be able to make huge dents in the Attero's funds. With Henderson's knowledge and greed, I'll be able to gain big portions of their money supply. With the money, I'll be able to both gain more power while weakening the gang. The underlings will probably begin to panic and look to their new leader. He'll be unable to stop me and those under him will lose faith. Once they are in a good enough panic and ready to turn on their new leader... then I'll make my move._ Shade grinned at the thought. _Once I've got that position, then I'll be able to continue with my main plan. Oh that will be glorious._

Shade's lombax ally approached him, his name was Randall Diggs. A desperate lombax trying to get money for his daughter's education and well-fare. Shade had finished showing Randall how to use the device.

"So we're hitting an Attero-held casino?" Randall asked.

Shade nodded, "Yes, Henderson told me where a step of one of their money-laundering operations takes place. This location is said to hold 2% of the Attero's wealth."

"Only 2%?"

"When you're talking about something the size of the Attero, 2% can mean a lot, for instance, 250,000 Gold Icons." Shade responded.

Randall's eyes went wide. "T-t-two h-hundred a-and fifty... th-thousand? Gold Icons?"

Shade nodded again. "They are waiting for a pick-up, so they should have a large amount of funds. The pick-up is in three hours, I am going to go in and handle the security and you and Henderson will get the money." He tossed Randall a crudely-fashioned mask as Henderson entered the room.

"Just give us the okay and we'll get the money." Henderson stated.

"I will," Shade said, "If either of you try to run away with the money, I will find you. When I do... I will burn you and everyone you care about. If you follow my plan, you will gain much more money anyways."

Randall shuddered a bit at Shade's ominous words. "I-I won't..."

Henderson hid his slight fear and nodded. "You got it, we should go soon."

Shade handed him a mask.

The trio watched as the armored transport arrived at the casino. There were three guards, one driver, one passenger, and one in the back. The passenger got out and entered the casino. Shade handed the device he was working on to Randall. "Just like I showed you."

Randall nodded, "Yes sir."

Shade pulled a hood over his head and headed into the casino behind the guard.

Randall headed to his post. In the back of the casino was a bundle of cables. Randall took his device and put it on the cables and pushed the series of buttons Shade showed him. Some blue electricity arced up the cables and there was a buzzing sound. _And there go the cameras._ Randall thought before he removed the device and returned to their hiding spot.

Once inside, Shade saw the camera's till the guard got two sacks full of Icons. The guard was a very well armed, and large lombax. Shade drew one of his Sai and put it to the guard's back and whispered as the guard yelped. "Hey there, now, my friends and I are going to walk away with this load. The question is, does your blood get spilled or not?"

The guard remained calm. "There's no need for that... you can have the money."

Shade chuckled, "Thank you." At that, he grabbed the bags with one hand, with the other he kept his Sai poking the guard. All the while, Shade made sure the guard couldn't see his face and, thanks to his enhanced strength, Shade had no problem lifting the two, heavy bags.

"Do you have any idea who you're stealing from? My bosses will hunt you down and skin you alive!"

Shade noticed three men approaching him from the bar and he shoved the guard onto his face and bolted towards the door before the henchmen reached him. Shade met up with Henderson and Randall and handed them the bags before the henchmen saw and the two accomplises ran for the hideout. Shade looked back and saw the trio of thugs in pursuit of him.

_Just as I planned heh, this is too easy. _Shade thought as he ran. He grinned as he came upon a deadend and was seemingly cornered by the trio.

"Where's the money?" One of the thugs asked.

"What money? I was just out for a run." Shade retorted smartly.

"Wiseguy eh?" Another responded. "Well we got ways of dealing with wiseguys."

"Eh, two on one, easy." Shade chuckled.

The third guard raised an eyebrow. "You must be stupid, there's three of us."

Shade shook his head. "Nope, there's two. Because once I take two of ya down, the third one will run, they always do."

The three looked at each other before charging Shade.

The first henchman swung but found that his swing had missed. He was suddenly dazed and his jaw erupted in pain as Shade's uppercut sent him flying backwards.

Another tried to kick Shade in his knee but Shade managed to easily deflect it with his shin. Shade also blocked a punch from the other at the same time. He leapt up and spun. During the spin, he threw a kick and a backfist. The combination made the two thugs yelp and stammer back. Shade grabbed one and threw him into the brick wall and he collapsed.

Both of the remaining thugs looked unsure, one moreso than the other and Shade smirked. "Now I know which one will run..." The more sure thug drew a knife and tried to jab Shade in the gut. Shade deflected the jab with his wrist and grabed the henchman's arm. He spun and yanked, a loud pop rang out as the man's shoulder was pulled out of its socket. The thug shrieked and fell.

Shade kicked his aside and smirked at the remaining thug. The last one looked more than a bit fearful and was quivering slightly.

"See you around," Shade grinned before firing jets of black energy from his feet and shooting up and over the brick wall behind him.

* * *

Kyle growled lightly as he read a report on a robbery of one of his gang's casinos. _250,000 Gold Icons... wonder if this is the same guy from the previous robberies... this Shade. How'd he get past those guards? He must be a Bonded of some kind, not even Law Men or Guards could take on my men that easily. If he keeps this up, he'll be a bigger threat than that group of pesky freaks._

"Sir," Kyle's assistant said through his intercom. "One of the men who survived the first raid is here."

"Thank you, show him in."

At that, the witness came into Kyle's office and sat across the desk from The Hunter.

"How are you my friend?" Kyle asked in a friendly manner.

The man sighed, "I'm doing alright considering... well... I lost a close friend in that raid..."

"You have my sympathies... that's why you are here, to help me catch this... Shade."

The man nodded, "I'll do anything to catch that monster."

"In case you haven't heard yet, he robbed one of our casinos and made off with a lot of money. After you leave, I will be having another conversation with the witnesses of that."

"Not to question you or anything sir, but doesn't someone in your position usually have someone else question witnesses?"

Kyle nodded, "Usually, yes, but I'm new and used to my own ways. I can read people rather well, it's how I was able to become so well-known."

The man nodded back.

"Now, please start from the beginning..."

* * *

Kaden chuckled lightly at the sight of Six, Ratchet, Sly, and Rykk all getting along. The others were with them too, but those three seemed to get closer by the second. Despite Six's... dark past, he seemed to be able to at least act friendly towards the others. Ratchet even seemed to warm up to him a bit, it took about an hour of chit chat but it seemed to help clear up some of the tension.

What made the biggest difference however, was when Ratchet and Rykk each told Six their pasts at the start of their conversation. Both stories seemed to slowly fade the dark and hard look on Six's face till he even looked sympathetic. Rykk stated and explained everything that happened to him and about Calamity before Ratchet and Sly showed up. While Six seemed to admire Calamity at first, his admiration quickly turned to disgust when he found out the full extent of what he did.

Ratchet and Sly took over when Rykk finished and they alternated their perspectives. When it was Ratchet's turn to speak, Six even got emotional and was borderline upset when Ratchet got to the part about Ebony and Talwyn. Ratchet too had to hold back his tears and Six couldn't help but feel a brotherly obligation to try and comfort him. He lightly hugged Ratchetfor a minute, letting Ratchet cry for a bit.

Once Ratchet regained his composure, he continued with his story and he and Sly and Rykk finished it.

"Wow..." was all Six could say once they were done.

"So, how'd you come here brother?" Ratchet asked.

Six sipped his drink before thinking for a second. "I was on the run. I had hotwired a ship to get away from some local authorities on Kerwan. I had lost them when I came across a portal... and you know the rest."

"What do you think of this world?" Rykk asked.

"I like it, I like the warm, dry climate and just the feel of the two cities. Lest restrictive laws, it's more wild and free." Six grinned, "I must admit, the Law Men and Guards are much tougher here than any of the law enforcement in the tri-galaxies. Heh, I like the challenge." Six grinned a bit more before he layed eyes on a female lombax server. He then felt something he had never felt before... attraction. He then read her nametag, "Michelle" it read. _Michelle huh? She's beautiful..._

* * *

Kenovo simply sat back and watched the group socialize and waited for Bentley, Bones, and Clank to return. Mrray and Carmelita approached him and offered him a non-alchoholic drink which he took.

"so," Murray started, "What is your universe like?"

Kenovo sighed as he remembered his home. "It is unlike yours in many ways. For one, there is no vacume between worlds. The whole realm has a ground and worlds come in two forms. One, they look like what you call planets and hover some distance above the ground. Second, they can be pillars and my kind live inside and on them. The "ground" level is mostly molten but there are patches of livable terrain."

Murray and Carmelita were both quite curious to see Kenovo's home realm. "Sounds very interesting," Carmelita said. "Do you think we can see it someday?"

Kenovo looked down, "I am sorry, but if I returned there... I would probably be either executed or imprisoned for the rest of my life..."

"The Beings?" Carmelita asked carefully, trying not to sound harsh or judgemental.

Kenovo lowered and raised his hand. "Yes, more specifically my plans for them and for introducing them to your universe." Despite his calm and distant expression, there were hints of sadness in the Ekon's voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad." Murray said with regret.

"I am the one responsible for my own mess... you do not need to apologize. I just wish I had realized the error of my ways long ago."

"Well," Carmelita said, "At least we get to meet you. Thans for saving us earlier."

Kenovo's tone of voice seemed to lighten up a bit even though his expression was still the same. "You are welcome," He let the slightest hint of a smile show as he sipped his drink and started chatting with Murray and Carmelita.

As the group talked, no one noticed a gold-eyed, female lombax enter the bar/inn. WHen no one was looking, she slipped something into a dish Rykk was eating before leaving with no one the wiser.

* * *

_Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I was visiting EvilRatchet96 for a little over a week and then got right back to work as soon as I got home._

_Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. Heh, if Alter keeps going like this, I may have to make it a two-part book._

_Thanks for reading and stay tuned._

_Jerod2447_


	17. Chapter 16, Love and Suffering

_Hey guys, hope ya like this story._

* * *

Alter Chapter 16, Love and Suffering

* * *

Kyle listened to the full story and nodded, "Well, thanks for coming Mr. Diggs, you've been helpful."

The witness nodded and was escorted out.

As he was, Kyle thought, _what is Shade's game? Does he have a death wish or something? He must be trying to destroy this gang financially, but why? Must be like I thought before, he's a new Bonded and who knows what he's after. Still, I must eliminate him, if he keeps this up my underlings will... I wonder... is he trying to usurp me? Could he be trying to ruin me? If he just wanted money he would go after other means. I mean there's plenty of rich people around and banks and the like, so why attack the Attero? Either he wants to ruin the gang or try to get me out of my position. Either way, he must be dealt with quickly._

Kyle looked up as his assistant's voice came through his com, "Sir, there's a witness who claims to know where this Shade person is staying at."

Kyle's ears perked and he pushed the talk button, "Thank you, put em through... So you know where Shade is?"

"I do, I saw him enter a warehouse. In this city,"

Kyle smiled a bit, "Really? You sure it was this Shade person?"

The man nodded, "Yes, he matched the description almost perfectly."

_Well, this is interesting, most interesting. You should have hid better Shade. _He looked at the witness, "Thank you, please write down the location." Kyle slid him a piece of paper and thought as he wrote down the address. _I'll send in one of my best hit-squads, besides, it's not a well-populated or respected part of town so even if it gets messy, no one will really care._

The witness slid the paper back to Kyle and Kyle looked at it and nodded. "Thank you, I will see to it that you are rewarded well, that is if this leads to anything."

The witness nodded, "You're welcome sir."

"My assistant will show you out, have a nice day."

The witness escorted the witness out and Kyle got on the comms to set up his raid.

Within an hour, a squad of six, highly-trained hit-men approached the warehouse. They all wore masks and were heavily armed. Three of them went around the back of the warehouse and the other three approached the front. One man stayed at each of the two entrances.

The place was dark and a light humming was heard as one of them turned the light on. The four that entered saw that the place was mostly empty, save for a few crates and a small office. The office's lights were on and a figure could be seen through the dirty windows. _It's too easy. _The leader of the squad thought. _Though, I still have to check it out to make sure._

The leader pointed towards the office and his men approached it, guns raised.

They covered the single entrance into the office and one of them kicked the door in.

The hitmen yelled as a black shock-wave blasted them onto their backs. The blast stunned them all badly but was not lethal.

The head of the squad looked up and groaned as a tall figure approached him from where the office once stood. He stumbled to his feet but had no time to react and yelped as a spray of crimson came from his neck. The cut was so fast from Shade's Sai that there was no blood on his black blade. The leader slumped to the ground in a bloody heap.

Shade rolled to side. The motion made him evade a few rounds from one of the squad. As he finished the move, he brought his blade down and into the chest of another of the squad. Shade leapt up and fired a bolt of black energy from his fist into the one who was firing at him. The thug yelled as the blast from Shade blew his chest wide open.

The two standing outside opened fire at Shade.

A black barrier arose and their Vector rounds bounced off of the shields. Shade made a quick hand motion and the shields flew at them and sent them flying. They were knocked-out by the blasts. The last thug tried to stab Shade in the back. Shade spun around, disarmed him, and grabbed him by his throat.

The thug gasped and tried to fight Shade off but to no avail. Shade was too strong and lifted him up. "Hello there, tell your bosses that I'm in charge now, and if they are smart and side with me... I will give them everything they want." At that, he threw the thug aside.

The thug groaned and gasped as he watched Shade blast a hole through the wall of the warehouse and fly out.

Kyle yelled and pounded his fist on his desk in frustration. _He played me, he set up a trap to embarrass me. He must be trying to kick me out, I mean that message proves it. I'll have to keep an eye on my men, just in case this works. Dang it! Who or what is this guy?!_

* * *

Rykk belched after eating his meal up and did pat his rounded belly. "That was a good meal..." He saw Six looking at their server, Michelle. The expression on Six's face exposed the fact that he found her attractive and Rykk smirked a bit. "Well, well, well, seems like Six is falling for a girl."

Six's face got a slight, red tint, it was an alien feeling for him. "Sh-she's gorgeous... I mean... wow..."

Michelle stood a foot taller than Six and Ratchet. She was fit but neither too big nor too small and had gold fur with crimson stripes and bright, blue eyes. She also had some shoulder-length, dark brown hair with crimson tinges. She held herself in a confident but gentle manner and her voice held both beauty and strength.

"She is quite cute," Ratchet added, "Why don't you talk to her?"

Six's face turned a bit more red, "I-I've never talked to a girl before... ever..."

"I kinda figured," Kaden chuckled and shook his head. "Just talk to her, you know, she's a bax like you... just a girl..."

Six took a deep breath and stood up from his chair. His heartbeat sped up and he tried to calm it down and keep his cool.

Six approached Michelle and she smiled at him. "How was your meal today sir?"

"Heh, um, i-it w-was really good... um... w-would you like some coffee?"

Michelle looked away and chuckled, "I... do get off in a few minutes." She smiled as she looked at him, "You do look both cool and cute, so, yes."

Six's face turned bright red, "Y-you think I-I'm c-c-cute?"

She nodded, "I do and I did when you walked in."

Six couldn't bear to look at her due to his sudden shyness. "Um... I... well... heh..."

Michelle chuckled again, "I'll have some coffee with you when I get off." She smiled more, "See you in a few."

Six watched her as she went back to work.

"Ah Michelle," Rykk said as he did pat Six's back, "She's a nice girl."

Six looked at Rykk, "How well do you know her?"

Rykk thought for a second, "She's a sweet girl, but she's also quite capable. We're good friends, nothing too close though. She'd be good for you, just be nice to her and she'll be great for you."

Six nodded, "Okay, wow, I've never felt this way before."

Ratchet chuckled, "And I never would have thought you would ever fall for someone."

"Yeah," Six agreed, "Same here." He perked up a bit as Michelle approached him with two cups of coffee.

"Oliver saw how you were looking at me and let me off a bit early." She smiled as she handed Six a cup.

Six smiled back, it was obvious he was nervous and Rykk and Ratchet backed off to give them some space. "Well that was nice of him, he's quite the guy."

Michelle chuckled, "Yeah he is, Oliver is a fun boss to work for. I see you know Rykk and the rest of his friends eh?"

Six nodded, "I am actually Ratchet's twin brother."

"He's a good guy, so what do you do... um..."

"I go by Six but I guess my dad named me James."

"You guess?"

Six nodded, "Yeah, like Ratchet I thought I was orphaned and... let's just say my childhood was pretty bad and I forgot my real name. So, I went by Six."

Michelle nodded, "Okay, well, I think both of your names are nice. So what do you do?"

Six looked down for a second before looking up. He suddenly felt sick in his stomach as he didn't want to lie but was terrified of telling her the truth. "I... I... well... I killed bad guys..."

Michelle's tilted her head a bit, "Like a bounty hunter?"

Six looked up, "Sort of... I wasn't paid to... always..."

"...like a serial killer?"

Six's eyes got a bit wet as he nodded.

"What kind of bad guys?"

"Murderers and rapists only, I got caught by this group. I don't know what I'm going to do now..."

"Well dad said he might be able to help you out." Ratchet intervened, "He was telling me you could work as a bounty hunter for Velocity and/or New Elko."

Six looked up, "I-I'm sorry... I n-never felt like this before I saw you..."

Michelle studied Six a bit, "Hmm... I do appreciate your honesty. I grew up in the Red Road District in New Elko, it's one of the roughest places on Agrona. I saw so much there... So, while I do like the Law Men and Guards, it feels good to know that there are people who can't stand for filth like that." She smiled a bit at Six.

Six looked a bit stunned, "R-really? So... you aren't scared of me?"

Michelle shook her head, "Nope, I think your teeth and eyes are cool."

Six still looked stunned, "Wow... never thought a woman would like my looks."

Michelle smiled more, "Well I do."

At that, Six and Michelle started to go into some small talk. Rykk looked on, both happy for Six but with a deep longing in his heart and he sighed.

His feelings must have been visible on his face as Ratchet approached and asked, "Are you okay Rykk?"

Rykk nodded, "Yeah, guess I'm just a bit jealous of your brother."

"Oh..."

"I miss Irene, a lot," Rykk said and his eyes got wet. "She tried to stay with me... but being newly Bonded I was mean, unstable, and I pushed her away." Rykk felt a tear fall from his eye.

"I'm so sorry," Ratchet couldn't help but feel sad for his friend and looked up at his brother. He and Michelle seemed to hit it off and looked quite happy. Ratchet then looked at Rykk who gazed at Six and Michelle with wet eyes and his ears low. "Come on, don't think about it man, you'll just get down. Besides, I bet there's a girl out there for you, we just have to find her."

Rykk didn't look up, "How? Just because Velocity doesn't want my neck doesn't mean I'm popular. No one wants to be with a Bonded."

"Hey," Ratchet said with a serious tone. "You can look at my brother and Michelle and get down, but you should be encouraged. He was a serial killer and he is getting along with a girl. If he can find a girl, so can you man."

Rykk's ears perked a bit, "Yeah... maybe."

Ratchet smiled a bit, "I'll help you to find her, I promise you that."

Rykk smiled a bit before he coughed and blue blood sprayed into his hands.

Ratchet's eyes went wide, "Rykk..."

Rykk yelped and began to shake violently he vomited as he began to seizure.

"RYKK!" Ratchet yelled and tried to hold him still.

Six jumped up and his eyes went wide at the sight of Rykk convulsing, "SOMEONE HELP!"

Rykk began to foam at the mouth and his eyes rolled back as he shook and he vomited again. At this, the rest of the group surrounded Rykk, Sly being close by tried his best to hold him still.

Kenovo ran over, shoving Ratchet and Sly aside in the process and began moving his hand over Rykk's body.

Ratchet got up, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Finding out what is doing this..." Kenovo said with a calm tone. "Hmm, he's been poisoned."

"But he's a Bonded," Michelle said, "Bonded can't get poisoned."

Kenovo looked up at her, "It is true most poisons are not lethal to Bonded, however, there are a few that are. This is from Agronis Ignis Draco, commonly known as the Flame Drake."

Rykk coughed again, spraying Six in cobalt blood. Six flinched a bit and tried to hold Rykk still. "How'd this get in him? We haven't encountered any of those."

Kenovo ran his hand over Rykk's belly, "He had ingested some. I need to make some anti-venom."

Some grey spatter appeared on Ratchet's face as Sly coughed. Ratchet looked at him with wide eyes, "No..."

Sly lost his lunch on the floor and began to convulse as well. Foam appeared in his mouth, and his glowing, red eyes rolled back.

Carmelita's eyes also went wide and she rushed to Sly's aid and tried to keep him still. "SLY! NO! HELP!"

"I need to find a Flame Drake and get some poison to make some anti-venom." Kenovo said as he looked at Sly and Rykk. "And I have to be fast..." At that, he headed for the door.

Bones and Clank began to scan both Rykk and Sly. Bones said as Kenovo headed for the exit, "We will monitor them very closely."

Six, Murray, Fen, and Arco followed him.

Six looked back, "I'll be back soon Michelle."

Michelle nodded, "Go, get what will save Rykk and Sly."

"We're coming too," Fen stated, "We're their friends too."

Kenovo nodded, "They may have a few hours at the most. Luckily, I know the area they like to live." At that, he lifted them up and took off towards the Plain.

Oliver had the bar emptied and approached them, "I have a few rooms available and some meds that might help."

Rykk and Sly had stopped convulsing really hard, both of them were shaking, but they didn't have to be held down.

Ratchet was quite upset as they gently lifted Rykk and Sly up. "I-I thought we were done... I mean Reap, Calamity, and Ebony are dead. Who would poison both of them?"

"I don't know," Carmelita said as they entered one of Oliver's empty rooms and set them down on the room's beds.

Bentley held his head low, seeing Sly in such terrible pain sank his heart. "Sly..."

Michelle sighed, "Rykk is a friend of mine. Get past his mood swings, and he's a sweetheart..."

Both Sly and Rykk were shaking and shivering and foaming at the mouth. They both began to sweat badly and coughed up blue and grey blood, respectively, every few minutes.

* * *

As Rykk and Sly were on the floor of the bar convulsing and foaming at the mouth, a red-eyed lombax sat in the corner and watched. He didn't watch long, before Kenovo and the others left, he got up and exited the bar. _I am so sorry we had to do that to you, but this universe cannot have mistakes like you two. It is unfortunate that any Bonded exist, but this must happen to correct that accident. Kenovo, why are you helping them? They should not exist. I hate to make their demises so painful, but it was the only poison I could find that would work. And Six, I hope you choose to work with me._

* * *

_Hey guys, sorry about the long wait. I've been quite busy this summer and am visiting family in Florida._

_Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter._

_Any ideas on the red-eyed lombax?_


	18. Chapter 17, Friends and Foes

_Hey guys, sorry about the long wait, life's been kind of hectic, trying to get things set up for school, visiting family, work and some other things._

_This chapter may be a bit short, but it reveals some things..._

_Anyways, I'll try to update more frequently._

_Thanks for reading and I hope you like it._

_Enjoy,_

* * *

Alter Chapter 17, Friends and Foes

* * *

Shade chuckled as he thought about his next move. _I bet the Attero leadership is quite scared after that little fight. The new head of the gang is probably feeling the pressure. Of course once I humiliate the new guy I need to take his place. It would be best to do it non-violently if I can... hmm... I've had my two helpers start spreading word about me. Heh, it was easier to get them back into the gang than I thought. Guess they are quite popular and well-liked; even better for me. Randall said that he knew of a few men that might be interested in being led by me. Might makes right in their tiny minds, so does the man with the money. One more big score should shatter any remaining confidence in their leader and give me a big boost in funds._

Shade held up a picture he had taken of a big building. It looked old and had elegant carvings on the exterior. _The Abendale Bank in Velocity, an Attero-run bank, and it supposedly holds 35% of the Attero's funds. I'm going to need more men than just the two. I'll have them gather the men that would be most likely to turn on the Attero._

_The two of them also spoke more of these Bonded creatures. The one named Rykk in particular, by the way they spoke he could be a problem. He and his friends, apparently they have a small, ragtag gang. Heh, reminds me of my enemies back on Earth. I need to learn more about him and those around him before I take any action against them. But I cannot let them know of my existence and let them make the first move. Like the old saying goes, "he who strikes first wins."_

* * *

Kenovo, Six, Murray, Fen, and Arco flew above the ground thanks to Kenovo. Six couldn't help but feel a bit scared. He had only known Rykk and Sly for a day but he felt like they were his friends. Six had never really had friends before, mostly due to the line of "work" he was in. Now, being a prisoner of New Elko, he had friends and his family and couldn't have been happier. Then, someone went and poisoned two of his closest friends. He growled as he thought about it, _whoever did this will pay a painful price._

Murray was sick with worry for Sly. He felt both an intense rage for whoever dared to poison his best friend and an intense fear that he would die in this agonizing way.

Kenovo pointed to a cave in the side of a canyon. Its entrance was just big enough for a person to walk through. "That is the kind of cave they like to hide in and I can sense something in there." He landed the group near cave. "Do not be reckless, these things can be quite fierce and their poison would most likely be fatal for you."

Fen nodded, "Yeah, I've read about.."

Fen was interrupted by a high-pitched roar coming from the cave as did the sound of movement. Everyone ducked just in time as a Flame Drake flew out of the cave. It was in size similar to a Komodo Dragon but had wings and harder scales. The dark, crimson scales helped it blend into the blood-colored rock. It had silver-colored scales on its underbelly and the leathery skin on its wings was also silver in color. Its mouth was lined in fangs. There were two dominate ones that were like those in a venomous snake. The Drake flew out of the cave and dove at the trespassers.

Murray yelled and tried to grab the Drake but the animal was fast. It fired a jet of flame at them from its maw.

Arco raised her hands and raised a shield that blocked the intense fire.

Kenovo then threw his hand up and the creature froze in the air. He moved his hand and the Drake moved closer to the ground.

Fen took one of his swords' blades and slit its throat. The animal was dead within seconds.

Kenovo looked at Six, "Hand me one of your knives please."

Normally Six wouldn't let anyone else touch his knives, but this wasn't a normal situation and he handed one of his blades to the Ekon.

Kenovo took the blade and cut out the venom sacks. He then drained the venom into a cup. "That will be sufficient, we should go." Kenovo looked up and saw tall, silhouetted figure near some rocks. He saw that the figure had red eyes and for the briefest of moments, his face showed a mixture of surprise, concern, and just a touch of fear.

Six saw Kenovo and followed his gaze, but by the time he looked, the figure was gone. "What's wrong?"

Kenovo's calm expression had returned to his face. "It was nothing, we need to hurry."

Six and the others nodded before making haste towards Oliver's Inn.

* * *

As their friends were getting the cure, Rykk and Sly were in terrible pain. Their stomachs ached, they had intense fevers, their muscles shook, sometimes violently, they each coughed badly, every other cough contained blood and after a bit, they began to have blood drizzle from the corners of their eyes and from their noses.

Ratchet had a wet cloth and was trying to cool Rykk off. He also cleaned up any blood he coughed up with another towel. Seeing Rykk in such a state filled him with pity and rage and he growled lightly. _Whoever poisoned Rykk is going to pay! Who the heck did this anyway?! Come on guys, Rykk and Sly aren't going to last too much longer._

Ratchet looked over at Carmelita, she was very broken up. She would switch between fits of sobbing and those of growling. She, like Ratchet, was a mix of rage and fear. The more the time passed, the more worried her expression became. When Sly started to bleed from the corners of his eyes, she began to panic. "No SLY! COME ON GUYS HURRY!"

Rykk suddenly went still and Ratchet put his hand on his carotid. His eyes went wide and he began to pound his chest. "RYKK! NO! COME ON! STAY WITH ME!"

Carmelita's eyes went wide too and saw that Sly had also gone limp, "NOO! HELP!" She then began to pound Sly's chest as well.

The doors swung open and Kenovo flew through them. "I have the poison," He then did a motion with one of his hands and the poison levitated out of the cup. The straw-colored liquid hovered above his palm in a perfect sphere and he closed his four-fingered hands around it. He also closed his eyes and seemed to go into a deep focus. A white light did shine from between his fingers for a few seconds before he opened his hands again. The liquid was now a light-blue color and he split it into two orbs. "I need syringes." Bentley handed Kenovo two, empty needles. Kenovo put the new anti-venom into both syringes. He then pointed at both Sly and Rykk and the needles lodged into their necks. Kenovo then did a pair of thumbs-up motions before bringing his thumbs down on his fists and the needles dumped the anti-venom into them.

Though the anti-venom neutralized the venom, it didn't help start their hearts.

Leo came in, "Guys, stand back!" He held up his hands and fired purple, lightning bolts at both Rykk and Sly. He made sure each bolt was the right strength and struck them in their chests.

Both Rykk and Sly sat straight up and yelled a bit.

Ratchet yelped and fell back from Rykk's sudden movement as did Carmelita.

Rykk and Sly started panting heavily and they both clutched their chests.

"Holy... ugh..." was all Rykk managed to say.

"Wha? Ow..." was Sly's response.

They both looked incredibly worn out but were alive. Carmelita embraced Sly tightly and cried a bit. "I was so worried... I didn't want to lose you again..."

Sly could only groan back, he was to beat to talk.

Ratchet hugged Rykk, "You made it man, all thanks to our new friend..."

Rykk managed to say a few words, "Uhh... thanks man..."

Kenovo raised his hand before lowering it again. "No problem, these two need to rest for a day or two before they do anything."

* * *

The red-eyed lombax sighed, i_t would seem he knows more about this world than I thought. What happened to you Kenovo? Why are you helping these Bonded? _He looked up at the golden-eyed, female lombax.

"Do you think they will survive?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, I think they will... and I am loathe to reveal myself to them this soon."

She looked at him, "The Attero are getting jumpy. someone or something known as Shade is dealing a good amount of financial damage to them."

"How interesting, sounds like he is either trying to get rid of the gang or take control of it."

The gold-eyed lombax nodded, "It would seem so. If his goal is to have it in his possession, does that change anything."

The red-eyed lombax shook his head with a smirk, "It should not, if anything he will be a help further down the road."

"Do you still want to meet Six in a week? What kind of use can we get out of him?"

"Unforeseeable as of right now. But it would be handy to have someone loyal to me among that group. Think of it as acquiring assets. Everyone has a weakness or something they desire. You find either of those things and you own them. Six wants to kill criminals, mostly out of a bloodlust but he does have some morals, that's why he does not kill civilians. Now that he is captured, he has lost a good amount of freedom. In turn he seems to have gained some trust from that group. That could be much more advantageous than as he was. He is unique in that his bloodlust is controlled only by his morals. Hence it would make him easy to agree with my vision."

"What about his brother?"

"Well he and Six are the sons of the Chief Kaden of Velocity. He cares utmost for his friends and family. He is not as bloodthirsty as his brother due to having s different childhood. Due to them being siblings and getting VIM, they both can grow to one hundred feet tall or shrink down to a few inches tall. Ratchet has a tendency to be a bit cocky but is not stupid. He also can let his emotions get the better of him leading to impulsive actions."

The gold-lombax nodded, "Now onto the big issue... What about Kenovo?"

The red-eyed bax looked a bit more troubled by that question. "I do not know... on the one hand I was overjoyed that he got free from his banishment. It has been too long... but then I saw him with those two mistakes... it is evident that he has developed emotions for them. I would understand if it were one of the others, but not with them. I thought he would want to free them from their torment."

The golden-eyed bax sighed, "I wish we could go talk to him..."

"I was going too, but seeing that he is allies with them, I don't know..."

"Does he know of our plan?"

"That I do not know."

"So why can we not approach him?"

The red-eyed lombax looked up. "True, I can find out if Kenovo is still loyal to our cause. If he is, I will tell him about our plans."

"Should we wait to see if those two Bonded die?"

The red-eyed bax nodded, "That would be smart. Though I do believe their odds of survival are higher now that they got the venom. Plus Kenovo saw me, he knows I am here. He will be expecting me." He grinned a bit. _It has been too long, brother mine._

* * *

_Whatcha think guys? Any ideas on the red-eyed lombax? Whatcha think about Shade?_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

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Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	19. Chapter 18 Ardent

_Hey guys, I know it's been a while._

_Mostly because of work and I just started the next semester of college._

_Anyways, I managed to make this chapter a bit longer than my previous ones._

_Have fun, I had fun writing this one and a lot happens._

* * *

Chapter 18, Ardent

* * *

Kyle growled and slammed his fist on his desk and he shouted to the person on the other side of his call, "He did what?!"

"I am so sorry sir... he got away with two million gold icons."

"How?! your security was supposed to be the best!" Kyle growled again and hung up, "Worthless!" _Two million! How did he rob the Etan Casino?! _Kyle's heart began to beat quickly as a pang of fear rushed him. _The others are probably furious... ugh... what to do, what to do, what to do? They'll take my head for this! I-I need to reassure them that I got this handled and fast! Shade... he's becoming more of a problem than that stupid gang! I have to get rid of him! I need to get my underlings to focus on Shade or else they'll come after me. _He called his assistant and had him call all of the Attero leaders.

In less than an hour, Kyle was sitting at the head of a large table surrounded by his constituents and their top guys. None of them looked well pleased in any way, shape, or form.

"So..." Peter started, "Two million Gold Icons... just taken."

Kyle sighed, "Yes... I had the security raised discreetly..."

"And it still didn't do a lick of good." Mike retorted. "He killed three undercover guards in the process as well."

"Yeah," Benny added, "He also seems to have a bit of inside help too."

Kyle nodded, "I figured he had taken a few of our men and is either forcing them to work for him or they have turned full traitor. Either way, I am setting a trap for Shade."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Mike stated. "We've only known about him for a short time and he's robbed three of our biggest money-holders, and sprung a trap on some of our best men."

"It's money he's after," Kyle answered, "I have a good idea where he's gonna hit next. I'll have O'Bannon wait there for him." He smirked a bit, the mention of O'Bannon's name was enough to make the panel of Attero leaders go quiet.

"Again, I must state my concern of using that psychopath." Peter said with a cautious tone. "The guy kills nearly everyone he comes across. Heck, at least with most men you can try to reason or bribe them but him? He wouldn't care!"

"Why do we keep that guy around?" Benny asked, "If he's so unstable, why not just off him?"

"Because the last guy that tried to do that ended up with a nice hole in his forehead before the guy that hired him was found with a Vector Shotgun blast in his chest." Peter answered with a slightly smart tone.

"Anyways," Kyle interrupted, "I'm gonna have him wait at Shade's most likely next target..."

"Oh you don't have to wait long." A deep, dark, yet elegant and smooth voice rang out and every head turned to the entrance of the room.

Shade strode in with an air of confidence and his hands behind his back like a military leader inspecting his troops. Naturally the leaders' top men all drew their weapons and aimed them at Shade.

Kyle jumped to his feet and growled. "How dare you barge in here! Take him out!"

All of the henchmen fired at Shade who casually raised his hand. A shield of black energy formed from his palm and the Vector rounds were absorbed by it. The henchmen emptied their guns but to no avail and Shade just smirked. "Now that is hardly a polite greeting."

Kyle growled more, "Do you have any idea who we are?! Who you're dealing with?!" He nodded to one of his henchmen who charged Shade. This goon was a good-sized human and looked like the kind of guy who'd be a bouncer at a bar.

The henchmen threw a heavy punch at Shade's face.

Shade moved fluidly and precisely. He deflected the blow with one hand and with the other, he jabbed the thug on the side of the throat. The blow stunned the goon badly. He then grabbed his head and threw a knee to his temple, putting the thug out of commission. At that the rest of the higher-up's henchmen, 7 in total, also attacked.

Shade threw a knee into the closest thug's gut and threw him into another. They both went sprawling and Shade ducked another goon's punch. He then struck the thug in the side of his upper leg, hitting the femoral nerve. The henchmen yelled and fell as his leg failed him and the next thing he saw before it went dark was Shade's foot coming at his face. Two others rushed Shade, both of them had knives. One tried to jab Shade in the gut, the other tried to get him in the head. Shade twisted to the side and evaded the stab to his belly and grabbed the hand of the one who tried to get him in the eye. He grasped the hand and twisted, causing the goon to drop the knife and yell. Before the knife hit the ground, Shade caught it. The lombax thug had no time to react from his hurt hand as Shade stabbed him twice in the gut and twice in the chest within the space of a second. The bax fell in a pool of his own blood and Shade drove his newly-acquired blade into the leg of the other knife-wielding thug. The thug yelled loudly and tried to get Shade in the back with his knife. He found Shade's blade embedded in his throat and Shade took his blade and kicked him back.

Shade looked up, _three down, four to go..._ The other thugs all drew knives as well and charged. Shade dropped his knives and summoned his pair of black-bladed sai with lightly glowing, white edges. He twirled them and charged. He moved so fast, that two of the thugs were slashed in their side, their legs, their chests, and finally their throats before they were able to throw a single stab and they crumpled. Shade looked up and flicked the blood from his sai and taunted the last two. "And then there were two..." The final two looked a bit shaken but were hardcore and loyal. It didn't do anything to help them, before they charged, one found Shade's sai in his chest. Shade had thrown the sharp sai and, before he fell, Shade charged, grabbed the sai and yanked it out of his body. He spun and slashed the throat of the last thug before he knew what hit him.

Shade flicked his blades, spraying some blood on some of the Attero leaders near him. He gave a cold look and the pile of mostly-dead goons at his feet made most of the leaders show a bit of fear.

Kyle didn't move, both out of fear and shock. _T-Those guys were among the best around!_ He looked up at Shade, those unnatural eyes seemed to pierce into The Hunter's being. Blackness surrounded the white, glowing irises surrounded even darker, dead, black pupils.

"Wh-what do you want?"

Shade smirked and sheathed his sai as he approached Kyle. "Your job..."

At that, a dozen Attero men entered. All of them armed and by they way they acted, it was easy to see that they were loyal to Shade.

Kyle gulped nervously, "N-now wh-what?"

* * *

Over the next two days, Rykk and Sly slowly recovered. The group stayed at Oliver's Inn free of charge.

On the second day, after visiting with Rykk for a bit, Six ran into Michelle.

"Hey, how's Rykk and Sly?" She asked, her blue eyes sparkled with care.

Six smiled lightly, "They're doing better, they can move around a bit now." Sounds of coughing came from upstairs and Six sighed. "Well... Rykk's been having coughing fits... every now and then there's blood in his coughs..."

Michelle looked down, "I'm sorry... give it some time, it could just be a temporary thing."

Six nodded, "Kenovo used his abilities to try and help, but he can't tell if it's short-lived or not."

"Keep your chin up," She smiled reassuringly, "Come on, I'm off the clock. How about we get a bite?"

Six smiled back, "Sounds good."

As Six and Michelle ate, they mostly did small-talk.

"So, where are you from Michelle?"

Michelle took a sip from her drink, "I grew up in the Shine. My father was an only parent. He's a good dad."

"He still lives in the Shine?"

Michelle nodded, "Yeah, he can deal with that place well without becoming like most of the filth that lives there."

"I stayed mostly in the Shine, that's where I did most of my... activities."

"I figured, it's one of the worst places in the two cities. The only one that's worse would probably be the Red Road." Michelle stated.

"I was going to move there had I not been caught."

Michelle chuckled lightly, "Well, I'm glad you got caught. Otherwise I wouldn't have met you."

"I'm still surprised that you like me... I mean, my teeth, my eyes..."

Michelle looked at him, "I've seen much worse and I find them unique and... hot."

Six had to stop himself from fainting, "H-H-Hot? Y-You th-think I'm hot?"

Michelle chuckled a bit from his reaction, "Yep, I do... hey, you um want to go... you know...?"

Six blushed deeply, "R-Really?"

Michelle looked at Oliver, "Hey, can I get a room?"

Oliver smirked and nodded before tossing her a key.

Michelle grinned at Six and he blushed badly as she led him to the room Oliver lent them.

* * *

Kenovo was sitting at the bar/restaurant part of the inn and was reading a book. He looked up as Bentley, Clank, and Bones approached him with the parts they had gathered. Now that things were a bit more quiet, they were able to put their focus on this project.

"We have enough to build the portal locator." Bentley stated and held the box of parts on his lap.

Kenovo nodded, "I see," he held his hand up and the parts all lifted out of the box. Kenovo closed his eyes and the parts started to move together. He held both hands out; with his palms facing the device as it started to come together. There was a slight glow on certain parts as they seemed to weld themselves. Small bolts of lightning arced from his palms to the device causing certain parts to heat up or charge certain pieces.

Bones, Bentley, and Clank all watched with dumbfounded looks as the device seemed to bring itself together.

"That... was... incredible!" Clank remarked with astonishment.

"Incredible!" Bones responded.

"I am so jealous," Bentley said with wide eyes.

After about five minutes, Kenovo held up the finished product. It resembled a pistol with a radar-like antenna on the front and a screen on the top and rear of the device. There was a dial on the side of the piece of tech, multi-colored dots ringed the dial.

"Each color designates a different kind of portal. Red ones lead to Agrona for example. I can tell you the other colors later. Pull the trigger and on the screen, a directional marker will be displayed and it will be the same color as the type of portal you're after."

Bentley held the locator. It was lighter than it looked but was still a bit bulky, "Neat! As soon as Sly is better..."

Murray approached them, "I'm not sure bud, I think Sly and Carmelita kind of like it here..."

Bentley sighed and nodded, "Yeah.. we should talk this over."

Kenovo nodded, "That would be wise." He looked up as Six and Michelle, "Well congratulations."

Six did raise a brow, "congratulations?"

Kenovo looked at Michelle. "You have conceived a young one."

There were two thuds as both Michelle and Six faint.

Ratchet entered the room and didn't hear the news but saw Michelle and Six lying on the ground. "Um... what happened?"

Kenovo looked at them, "Wake them up first."

Ratchet nodded and tossed some water on their faces and helped them to their feet. He sat them down at a table.

Six looked at Kenovo, "H-How did you know... oh yeah... your abilities."

Ratchet looked at them, "Know what?"

Kenovo pulled up a chair behind Ratchet just in case. "Your twin brother is going to be a father..."

Thud!

Ratchet collapsed into the chair.

Kenovo chuckled and snapped his fingers and Ratchet woke up.

"Ugh..."

Michelle looked just as in shock as Six did. "I'm... gonna be a mother..."

Thud!

Kaden had overheard Michelle and put two-and-two together and he too had blacked-out.

Ratchet sighed and woke his father back up.

Kaden did rub his forehead, "Ow... I heard that I'm going to be a father?"

Six nodded, he began to smile broadly and took Michelle's hand. "Michelle, I know we've known each other for only a few days but... I... um... no one else has shown me the love that you have. I know that you are probably considering getting an abortion. I beg of you not too, the baby shouldn't have to pay for our actions and I will do everything I can to support you. I tell you, if you decide to stay with me, I will never abandon you or our child. I swear this, my life is yours." His face was full of commitment, determination, care, love, and a desire to be with her. His eyes were wet out of both joy of finding a potential mate and possibly raising a kit and the fear of an uncertain future.

Michelle looked down for a second and thought.

Six's heartbeat began to speed up as intense anxiety took him as he waited for Michelle's response.

After a minute, Michelle looked up and she smiled with tear-fulled eyes. "I will stay with you... and I will keep the child."

Six smiled wide and kissed her.

Rykk smiled a bit as he limped down the stairs. "That's awesome bro! I'm so happy for you!"

Six embraced Rykk gently, "I... never imagined..." He sniffled a bit. "I'm so happy..."

Sly was feeling a tad bit better than Rykk and was sitting in a corner watching with a wide smile as he held onto Carmelita.

Kenovo looked at the scene and actually smiled a bit. He looked up and saw a lombax with red-eyes enter the bar and he froze. Behind him was a golden-eyed, female lombax as well.

The red-eyed lombax smiled a bit and approached Kenovo. "Greetings brother, I am very happy to see you." He held his arms wide in a warm gesture.

Kenovo's eyes went wide and he looked at the red-eyed bax a bit before embracing him. "Mache... I have missed you brother... it has been way too long."

Mache and Kenovo smiled as they released the hug and Kenovo looked at the gold-eyed, female lombax. "And Tyra..." He hugged her as well, "...my sister."

Kaden, Ratchet, Six, Clank, Michelle, Sly, Carmelita, Bentley, Murray, Oliver, Rykk, and Bones looked at the trio of Ekon siblings with wide eyes.

* * *

So Shade has made a big move

Six, his love to Michelle will prove

The Locator is complete

To their worlds will they retreat?

Kenovo's siblings have returned

Should Rykk and Sly be concerned?

Thanks for reading!

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	20. Chapter 19, First Strike

_Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, I know it has been a while._

_Just had a bad cold and a bit of depression due to being so far from my family, it all just kinda hit at once._

_I am also adjusting to a new job position and my schoolwork and I just did a midterm exam in Human Bio._

_This chapter may be short but it's also to show that I'm back in the game._

* * *

Chapter 19, First Strike

* * *

Kyle's heart beat quickly and he tried to pack as much as he could into a small pack. _Gotta get out of here, I can't believe Shade managed to just take over like this. _He closed his pack and quickly made his way out of his room. He ran down the halls of the building, his breathing became harder and he could feel sweat forming on his brow. _This is it, just around this corner is the elevator..._

Kyle's heart nearly stopped when he saw a human standing by the elevator. It wasn't Shade, it was the one known as O'Bannon. Kyle trembled, _O-O'Bannon?! Wh-what is he?... No... no it can't be... he's not here for me is he?_

O'Bannon was a feared assassin, mostly because he killed nearly everyone he came across. He also had an uncanny ability to seemingly just appear and disappear without a trace. He was of average height and had a somber expression on his face. It seemed to be his normal expression, like he was never happy.

Kyle gulped and started to make his way towards the elevator. Taking the stairs would have been no better as the stairs were right next to the elevator. Kyle's heart beat faster with each step. He was completely alert, focused, a bead of sweat rolled through the fur on his forehead, the air was slightly cold, his breathing was slightly erratic, and his tail twitched slightly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw motion coming from O'Bannon's direction. Instinctively he rolled to the side as a Vector round whizzed through the air. Kyle summoned a pistol from his Utility and fired back as he rolled. O'Bannon also started evading.

Kyle closed the distance between himself and O'Bannon. He aimed his gun at O'Bannon's chest and fired.

O'Bannon hit Kyle's gun, turning it just enough so that the round missed him and fired his own weapon.

Kyle spun, evading the shot and tried to fire one into O'Bannon's gut.

O'Bannon used his free hand and hit Kyle's gun, causing his round to miss.

For twenty, tense seconds, the assassin and the ex-leader of the Attero kept up their dance. Each one simultaneously blocked the other's attempts to put a Vector round in him and tried to deliver their own shots. It was like a sword-fight with guns.

The fight ended with the two of them aiming their guns at their heads.

"You know we're both empty right?" Kyle stated.

O'Bannon nodded slowly, "Of course." He then threw his gun at Kyle.

Kyle ducked it and rammed O'Bannon.

O'Bannon yelped as he hit a wall, he started throwing punches and kicks into Kyle's back.

Kyle grunted and punched O'Bannon in the jaw. He then threw O'Bannon back and dashed for the stairs. He knew O'Bannon would win this fight if he kept it up too long. He sprinted down the stairs as fast as he could. He heard O'Bannon give chase. He looked down, he was about fifty stories to the Skyplain, the second ground level of New Elko. He jumped over the railing, due to his Hammer injections, he landed without a problem and he ran outside. He slowed his pace to match the crowd and blended in with the mix of humans and lombaxes.

_My only hope is to make some new friends... I won't last long on my own. Could always head out onto the Plain but O'Bannon would find me at some point. Besides... _Kyle growled lightly, _I am getting Shade back. No one can push me out like that and expect to get away with it! I will get my position back!_

* * *

"So our scouts have located them at that bar?" Shade asked his board of leaders.

Mike nodded, "I mean the problem isn't finding them the problem is they're just too strong. We've tried to take them out, Mill Yates tried..."

Shade nodded back, "And I will succeed. I think I may take a shot at them..." _After all, this would be a great way to establish my power over this group of thugs. Ugh, this gang is a poor substitute for the kind of criminal I'm used to. I'm used to working with ones that have equal amounts of brains and muscle. I am still baffled at how this gang got so big... it must have been Reap. These louts couldn't lead a lemonade stand in summer. Oh well, they'll still do well. _Shade looked up, "Trust me, I'll take care of them."

* * *

Kenovo smiled as he embraced with his brother and sister. "What are you doing here?"

Mache chuckled a bit, "Let's just say, it has been quite interesting. I am so happy you!"

"How did you get here? I thought you were..."

Mache nodded, "I was, Tyra here helped me."

Tyra chuckled, "Yeah..."

Six approached, "Um... hello..."

Mache smiled a bit, "Oh yes, hello James."

Six raised a brow, "James?"

Mache nodded, "Yes, I know your birth name. Wasn't hard, I was able to look up the records."

"Brother... I am so glad to see you two... but you are not here just to say hello, are you?"

Mache sighed, "We are mostly here to say hello, and to offer an invitation."

"Invitation?"

"To my mission."

Kenovo looked up, "Where are you staying?"

"At an inn Velocity," Tyra answered. "It is quite nice."

Kenovo looked at the group, "I am going to visit with my siblings for a short time."

Mache and Tyra smiled.

Six nodded, "No problem."

Rykk chuckled, "Not like we can stop ya either way."

Kenovo smiled just a little bit as he left with his siblings.

A few minutes after the siblings left, Rykk looked back at the others. "So a trio of Ekon siblings... well that was interesting."

Sly chuckled, "Yeah, seems all Ekons are just as secretive as our friend Kenovo."

Six sat down next to Michelle. "Yeah, wonder what kind of mission they're talking about."

"Who knows," Sly responded. "Kenovo is at least honest it seems. He may be secretive but that doesn't mean he's a liar."

"I still don't trust him," Six retorted.

"You don't trust anyone," Ratchet said back. "He did save our lives back there with Reap and he saved Rykk and Sly. I'd say he's on the level."

"Yeah well..." Rykk was about to respond as the front of the bar exploded and everyone was knocked back.

Six groaned and, even though he was badly dazed, hid Michelle behind Oliver's bar.

Shade walked in, a smirk on his face and a pair or Sai in his hands. "Well, hello there."

* * *

_Whatcha guys think? Your reviews mean a lot to me. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	21. Chapter 20, The Attack

_Hey guys, again, sorry for the long wait, school and work heh._

_Anyways, on with the story, let me know what ya think!_

_Thanks for reading,_

* * *

Alter Chapter 20, The Attack

* * *

Rykk and Leo's eyes went wide and they both said in unison, "SHADE?!"

Shade raised a brow, "I do not believe we've..." his brow furrowed a bit as he looked at Rykk. "You... you're older and quite... different... but I know you."

Rykk growled deeply, "I don't know how you're here Shade..." his claws extended, "...but I will destroy you!" He pounced.

Leo yelled, and even though he was injured, he charged at Shade. He threw a punch and a blast of purple energy flew from his hand.

Shade spun and kicked Rykk aside and blocked Leo's blast with a shield of black energy. He spun and did a quick motion with his hands. A wave of black energy flew at the group.

Sly yelled fired some Bide at the blast, pausing it in midair.

Rykk had landed on his feet and raised his hands. A rock wall was raised by his Alter and blocked the wave of shadow energy.

There was a deafening explosion as the wall blew apart from a black, lightning bolt.

"First time in a while I get a decent fight." Shade remarked, "It's only fitting it's with my old enemies."

Sly snarled, "I don't know who you are... but no one messes with my friends!" He swung his staff in a flurry of motions.

Shade raised and swung his Sai and very quickly parried Sly's cane.

Six also snarled and ran at Shade with his knives.

Rykk roared and slashed at Shade with his claws.

Ratchet swung his wrench with a deep growl.

Shade's arms were a blur. He managed to block Sly's staff and kicked Sly back. Sly teleported a short distance away.

Shade fired a blast of black lightning at Six and Leo knocked him down, evading the blast.

Despite his furious slashes, Rykk only hit air as Shade managed to duck and side-step each one. He managed to grab Rykk's wrist and threw him. Rykk yelped as he crashed into Sly.

Ratchet yelled as he swung his wrench and his brother helped him by slashing with his knives.

However, their attacks seemed to only annoy Shade as he was holding them back with no problem. With a quick motion, Shade managed to cut Ratchet's upper arm and his leg.

Ratchet yelled and dropped his wrench as the cuts were deep.

Six snarled and ferociously tried to get Shade. He thrust his knife at Shade's torso and was quite fast.

But Shade had flipped over him and jabbed him in the side with one of the blades of his Sai and then kicked Six in the jaw. The blow was hard and KO'd the lombax. Before he passed out, he saw Carmelita guarding Michelle, Bentley, and Oliver behind the bar.

Rykk and Sly charged Shade at the same time, Rykk threw a chunk of the ground at Shade while Sly fired a blast of Bide.

Shade slammed his fists together and a shockwave of black energy left him. This blast was quite strong as Sly's Bide didn't affect it and everyone yelled as they were knocked back.

Rykk groaned as he and Sly shakily stood up. They both yelped and yelled as Shade made a few quick cuts on their legs and arms and they fell.

"Well, I must say I didn't expect to meet you here." Shade said to Rykk. "I'm not the nostalgic type though." He raised his Sai, one blade above Rykk's chest and the other above Sly's. "And you and your friends are a potential thorn in my side. So..."

Sly gulped and closed his eyes.

Rykk growled.

Shade paused and quickly spun around and blocked a Vector round.

"Hey, who told you to rain on our parade with your ugly face?" Rance taunted and fired another round. "Sorry about being late, heh, was using the little boy's room. That and I think the author wanted a deus ex-machina..."

Shade easily blocked the round. "You've got a mouth on you don't you?"

Rance chuckled, "Famous for it, now how about we dance, tall, dark and ugly?" He yelled and threw a pair of daggers.

Shade didn't look amused as he bent over backwards and then performed a flip. As he flipped, a black ball of energy flew from Shade's foot.

Rance rolled and evaded the attack, "Now that wasn't very nice." He quickly charged and closed the distance between himself and Shade. As he did so, Rance drew a pair of knives and started throwing rapid stabs and jabs.

Shade used his Sai and his reflexes and speed to evade or block Rance's attacks. Rance's taunt was correct in the fact that it did seem like they were dancing. Both of them were incredibly fast and agile. However, Shade was faster and he jabbed Rance in the knee.

Rance yelped but managed to nick Shade in the side with one of his knives. "Well, that hurts..."

Shade grunted and held his side. "Most impressive," he then kicked Rance in the jaw. "But I'm not here to play games." Shade suddenly spun around and threw a slash.

Rykk, Ratchet, and Sly's eyes went wide as Shade's Sai cut Murray's neck. Shade then threw a punch and Murray was sent flying back by a blast of black energy. "Rude beast..."

Sly yelled and his eyes did glow bright red. Bide began to wisp off of him like ink in water and he teleported behind Shade and swung his cane.

Shade parried the blow and threw a kick. "Now this got interesting," Sly rapidly teleported around Shade in a frenzy and swung his staff just as rapidly. Yet, Shade managed to dodge or block all of the blows. He couldn't deliver many jabs with his Sai though. Each collision of their weapons caused a small blast and flash of energy. That and the incredible acrobatics and speed of the two fighting resulted in a dazzling display.

Rykk and Ratchet ran over to Murray but they were too late. Rykk roared in a rage along with Ratchet and they both charged at Shade.

Shade managed to push Sly back and spun. A ring of black lightning flew from him and expanded tremendously fast.

Rykk ducked it while Ratchet leapt over it.

Shade quickly raised his arms and a pillar of black energy surrounded him. The pillar was dozens of feet tall and spun like a vortex.

Sly slammed the head of his staff against it but it did not break.

Rykk tried to slash it with his claws to no avail.

Ratchet's wrench worked just as well as his friend fruitless attacks.

Shade flew out of the top of the vortex and quickly clenched and unclenched his fist. This motion made the vortex blast like a shockwave.

Rykk yelped and quickly shielded himself and his friends from the blast with Alter.

* * *

Shade, knowing that he would lose if he kept up the fight, took off and flew away. He hated admitting defeat, but he didn't have much choice. He flew back to his residence in New Elko and sat down on the sofa. _They're stronger than I anticipated, huh, so this is what it feels like to underestimate your opponents. Then again, who would've guessed I would have ran into people who actually knew me. Well, next time I will have to be a bit more cunning and not so direct. I at least managed to kill one of them. _He stood up and poured himself a glass of wine. _Oh I'll get them, and they will beg to die quickly and I will not grant them that. I will make them watch as their friends die._

A knock on his door made Shade freeze. He slowly set his glass down and approached the door. He looked through the peephole before opening it. It was a messenger from the Attero.

"The others want to meet with you."

Shade nodded and sent the messenger away.

Thirty minutes later, Shade arrived at the meeting room. However, as soon as he stepped in, one of the bodyguards for the council opened fire at him. Shade had the faster reflexes and evaded the rounds. He closed the distance between himself and the guard before jamming his Sai into his throat. The guard fell and Shade spun around as six others ran in. He grabbed the arm of one of them, spun him into a one of the others, and drove one blade into the chest of one and the other Sai blade into the back of the other. He shoved them to the ground and ducked a shot from another henchman. Shade quickly made a motion with his hands, like he was pulling something apart and two, black walls of energy formed and knocked down the remaining men. He then lifted his hands and dozens of arcs of black lightning flew from his fingers and began to electrocute the thugs. It didn't kill them, just stunned them badly. Shade ran forward, twirling and slashing with his Sai till they were all cut into a bloody heap, leaving only one alive.

The lombax henchmen groaned in pain. "Please... I beg of you... have mercy..."

Shade looked down at him and kneeled down. "There is no mercy..." He held his palm out and fired dozens of small, black lightning bolts into him. The thug yelled in agony as black lightning coursed through his body. Shade stopped after a few seconds. "...however, you may prove useful too me. Who was the one that set up this hit on me?"

The henchman was breathing heavily as wisps of steam rose from him.

Shade held his hand up, "Tell me now or I will keep inflicting this pain on you until you do."

"P-Peter... it was Peter..."

Shade lowered his hand. "There now," Shade grabbed one of the dead henchmen's communicators. "You will call him and tell him the attack worked, I am dead. Do it, and I will let you go free to your wife."

The thug whimpered but took the communicator. "Sir... yes... sorry he was killed but we managed to take out the target. Thank you sir..." At that he hung up, "Done."

Shade nodded, "Good." At that he drove on of his Sai blades into the lombax's forehead. He yanked his blade free and walked out of the room, cleaning of his blades as he walked. _Time to pay Peter a visit._

* * *

Rykk lowered his hands and the Alter shield was lowered. The ground was burned from Shade's attack and it was evident that shielding them from the blast took a lot of energy on Rykk's part. He was breathing hard and sweating a lot.

Sly snarled and was in a complete rage. His eyes glowed like a demon's as tears poured and the wisps of Bide coming off of his hooded form gave him a dark appearance. "I... am going to rip... him... APART!

Ratchet too had a look of rage and sadness drawn across his face.

Rykk had only a hint of sadness on his expression. The rest was a distant, mournful look, like he had been through this situation dozens of times. "We need to find Shade and kill him quickly..."

Six groaned and slowly got up. "Ugh, bax that hurt..." He saw Murray and snarled, "WHERE IS HE?! I'll gut him!

Sly looked at Rykk, "How do you know that monster?"

Rykk sighed, "It's a very long and dark tale. First, let's bury our friend..."

Sly's eyes faded and more tears poured. "O-okay... I just... Murray..." At that, Sly broke down.

Carmelita stepped out with Michelle and Oliver. Her eyes were soaked and there's blue flames coming off of her. She and Sly hugged each other and grieved for a few minutes. Bentley broke down the instant he saw Murray, he couldn't utter any coherent words.

About thirty minutes later, the group stood over Murray's grave.

"I can't believe this..." Carmelita said, "We will make Shade pay for this..."

Six was emotionless save for a hint of rage on his face, "He will pay dearly and painfully."

Ratchet growled, "This Shade has no idea what he's done."

Rance stood there in silence, his expression cold and distant.

Sly looked at Rykk, "What can you tell us about Shade?"

Rykk's expression held a deep seriousness and darkness to it. "He is a nightmare..."

* * *

Kyle was walking down a street in New Elko, he couldn't leave the city, not yet. He knew that Shade probably had his men on the lookout near the city's outskirts. He had to leave but it would be best doing that undetected. He knew of one person who might be able to help him. _The Superintendent as he's called, _Kyle thought as he neared a bar. It wasn't fancy or anything, just your average, neighborhood bar. _Heard he comes here often, worth a shot._

Kyle entered the bar and ignored the drunken antics of many of the patrons. His business lay with the one providing live music for the bar. He was an older lombax with black fur, no stripes, and silver/blue eyes. He has some longer hair hanging over his face and part of it was graying. He wore a dark brown, unbuttoned vest and dark grey pants. He had started singing The Rock Island Line in the style of Johnny Cash.

Kyle sat at an empty table and kicked back. He listened through the whole song and ordered a glass of water as he listened. He continued to listen to the whole show until it had gotten very late and the band finished for the night. As the singer walked off the stage, and stepped over a few passed-out drunks, Kyle aproached him.

The older lombax smirked a bit when he saw Kyle. He nodded towards a back room and Kyle followed him into it, somewhere they could talk in private. "You're in quite a bit of trouble I hear."

Kyle nodded lightly, "Yeah, hello Garth..."

"Let me guess, you want out of this city but you know that the borders are being watched, right?"

Again, Kyle nodded.

The black-furred, lombax musician chuckled lightly, "Well, I can help. But of course it ain't gonna be free boy."

"I expected that, what do you want?"

Garth shrugged a bit, "Not a lot. You see there's a small shop near Columbia Plaza that helps a few friends of mine run a money laundering operation. However, the new owners of the place have refused to cooperate with me and my friends. I would love if you could go over there and talk some sense into them. Do that, and I will get you out of here quietly."

Kyle sighed, "Alright, what's the address?"

Garth chuckled, "I can show you. You see I plan on going with you on this job."

While it didn't take long for Kyle, aka The Hunter, and Garth, aka The Superintendent, to reach the shop. It did take them a bit longer than usual due to the fact theu had to be very cautious to avoid being caught by the Attero.

The place was a small pawn shop and despite it being near a wealthy part of the city, it looked slightly rundown. It wasn't nearly as bad as those say in the Red Road or Shine districts but it didn't quite seem to match its surroundings.

Still, if he wanted to get out of the city, he had to do this job.

Garth nonchalantly walked past Kyle and into the shop. Kyle quickly followed him. The place was empty of customers and cashier looked up as they approached the counter. His expression said that he knew Garth and why he was there. The sight of The Hunter made his face a tad grim as he pushed a button under the counter. The wall behind him moved and opened, revealing a secret chamber.

Garth motioned towards the entrance, "After you kid."

Kyle glared a bit at being called a kid but he stepped into the entrance. The sound of the wall closing behind him and Garth rang out as they stepped foot into the secret place.

* * *

_Well, sorry for the lack of content lately, hopefully this chapter makes up for it. I actually managed to make this one a decent length!_

_Anyways, thanks for reading, let me know what you think in a review. All reviews are appreciated greatly._

_As always, stay tuned for more my friends!_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	22. Chapter 21, Dealings

_Hey guys, I tried to release this on Christmas Day, but alas, it technically didn't work out._

_(Depending on what time zone you're in)_

_So consider this a slightly late Christmas present to all of my readers._

_I hope you like it._

* * *

Alter, Chapter 21, Dealings

* * *

The group quickly began to clean up the wreckage in Oliver's bar. Rykk's Alter and Sly's Bide really came in handy.

"Just had new windows put in too..." Oliver said with an irritated tone. "Can't believe something like this happened at my bar..."

Ratchet sighed as he scrubbed the floor, "I know, we didn't see it coming either. It was so quick, and we had no idea that he even existed!"

Leo was sweeping, "That's how Shade works, you don't see him coming. It is basically unheard of to sneaking up on him."

"He won't get us like this again..." Six said with venom. "The freak doesn't know what he's done."

They managed to put up some tarps and straighten up a bit. It only took an hour and they sat down at the bar.

"Tell me about Shade..." Sly said with a dark tone to Rykk and Leo. "...who is, what does he want.. everything."

Leo sighed, "Back on Earth, Daren Nightshade aka Shade, was an arms dealer and supplied many cowards. Ironically, he was trained to fight those cowards by a secret agency of the government. That same agency are the ones where Dragons, like myself, originated. Dragons are people who can control plasma energy and lightning. Shade is very similar to a Dragon, however, his energy is different from mine. The energy he fires is distinguished its black color and is at least twice as powerful."

Six growled lightly, "So that explains how strong he is..."

Leo nodded, "Not only that, but he is exceptionally talented in combat and has an IQ of 185. It is another reason why he was and is so hard to track down."

"What does he want?" Bentley asked.

"Power mainly," Rykk answered, "He sees a race of monsters nicknamed Shadows as the future race. In reality, they are a terrifying race that converts the average person into one of their own. Once someone becomes a Shadow, they cannot be brought back. They will try to kill or turn you into a Shadow."

"How does that happen?" Sly inquired, "How can someone become a Shadow?"

Leo responded, "Shadows can shoot a special bolt. The method is a bit similar to how someone becomes a Dragon. To become a Dragon, someone else who is a Dragon, fires a special bolt called the Jolt. A certain technique is required to fire the Jolt. Shadows fire a similar bolt that, upon contact, will turn a person into a Shadow. Luckily, Dragons, and I think those that are enhanced are immune to the Shadow's Jolt."

"How do we find him?" Carmelita's voice sounded like Sly's in that it held a determined and slightly dark tone.

Leo and Rykk both sighed, "We track down any lead we can on the black market." Leo said, "The problem is Shade is very crafty and ruthless. If anyone turned against him, he wouldn't just kill them, but he would destroy whatever family they have and completely ruin them. Shade is a sociopath, he can't relate to the average person and is an expert manipulator. It doesn't help that he can read a person very quickly, sometimes just by looking at them."

Sly growled, "I don't care who we have to beat down or what we have to do, we will get this monster."

Leo nodded but he looked less eager. "It is not that simple. Shade's intelligence and ruthlessness is formidable. If you're simply a person in his way he will just kill you. However, you make things personal or become a constant problem, he will take everything from you, drive you insane, and then kill you."

Before Sly could respond, Kenovo and his siblings returned.

"I am sorry for being gone so long..." Kenovo said.

Carmelita growled and hit Kenovo in the chin. She yelped as he didn't even flinch and her hand erupted in pain. "Dang inter-dimensional beings..."

Mache chuckled lightly.

Tyra flicked Mache in the shoulder and he was knocked over. "Behave brother, look at them, this is a serious time."

Mache groaned lightly, "Sorry, that just got to me."

Sly approached, "You guys done? Because I would like some help catching the monster that murdered my friend."

Mache's expression dropped and became somewhat scary. "Who did it?"

Sly then filled the siblings in on what happened. With each passing second, Mache looked more and more furious, towards the end a bit of red flame started to wisp off of him.

"I will help you burn this monster..." Mache said with venom.

"Flow like the river brother," Kenovo said and then looked at the group, "We can help you."

Sly nodded, "Thank you."

"I know where we can start looking, but this fight will be long." Rykk said. "I don't even know how Shade is even hear! He was dead years ago!"

"He probably came through a time portal..." Mache stated, "Pure white portals are time portals. That would seem to be the only explanation."

Rykk rubbed the longer hair on his head and his longer ears, "Great, the smartest and most dangerous villain I know of just appeared."

"How does he compare to Calamity?" Ratchet asked.

"Less sadistic, but more intelligent and manipulative and cold. Like before, if you're someone in his way, he'll just kill you, he'll only torture you if you are persistent or make things personal."

"It's personal now..." Sly growled, "Let's go."

Before they could leave, the group's attention was turned to the front door. in walked a young lombax kit. He was thin, had white fur with dark blue stripes and looked no older than seven years. He looked worn and beaten as he practically fell into the inn.

Six, being the closest, rushed over to help him. "Kid? Hey! Someone get some water!"

Michelle fetched a glass of water.

Six held the kid in his arms, "Hey, what happened? What's your name?"

The kit's brown, bloodshot eyes blinked weakly. "L-Lance... I'm Lance..."

Six smiled in a calming way, "Lance, that's a good name..."

Michelle hurried over with the water and handed it to Six.

Six began to gently let the kit sip the water. Once it was gone, the kit looked like he had gained a bit more strength.

"What happened to you kid?" Rykk asked.

Lance looked up and growled, "You!" At that he started swinging wildly at Rykk, though his swings weren't exactly strong and Six held him back. Rykk yelped in surprise and took a few steps back.

Ratchet took a knee near Lance, "Okay kid, come on, what's going on?"

Lance calmed a bit and looked down, he sniffled a bit and wiped his nose. "A-a few years ago, Rykk and Calamity were in a big fight in New Elko... during the fight, I saw my b-b-brother get crushed by rubble... I saw it fall from one of HIS attacks... my brother was the only family I had..." Lance started to break down and Six held his close.

Rykk's ears dropped and he looked more than a bit distraught. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to kill anyone... it was Calamity's fault..."

"How did you come here?" Six asked.

Lance looked up, his eyes were wet and red, "I have been living on the streets ever since my brother... I got sick of New Elko and wanted to see Velocity."

Six looked more and more touched by the kit with each passing second. Once he heard that Lance had been living on the street, he became borderline emotional. "It'll be alright Lance... it'll be alright." Michelle came back with another glass of water and this time, Lance guzzled it down quickly and Six actually smiled in a warm manner. "I won't let anything happen to you..."

Sly sighed, "Okay, once everything is good with this kid, then we move out, okay?"

At that, everyone agreed.

* * *

Peter entered his small mansion and flicked on the light. He set down some groceries he had bought on the kitchen counter and entered the living room with a bottle of whiskey and a glass. He froze as he saw Shade sitting on the couch. He was reading a book and looked up as Peter jumped.

"Well, this is surprising..."

Shade set the book down, "I figured it would be, just like having that group of thugs attacking me."

"What are you talking about?"

Peter yelled as one of Shade's Sai embedded in his shoulder.

"I know it was you... besides the fact one of your men told me, I've been watching how you act and look. You were going to have that same party of brutes attack Kyle weren't you? You wanted to be in charge, you wanted it all, then I came along and you thought you could get rid of me. He drove the other Sai into Peter's side, making him yell. "You were quite wrong, and now, everything that was yours, is now mine."

Peter yelled and struck Shade in the face.

Shade simply grinned and then threw Peter with his Sai.

Peter yelled as he skidded across the carpet, leaving a trail of blood. He groaned and tried to stand.

Shade held his hands out and tendrils of black lightning flew and began to course through Peter. The gangster yelled in agony as dark lightning arced through him. After a minute, Shade stopped. "You tried to have me killed... bad idea."

The mobster screamed as this lightning was much stronger.

* * *

Kyle and Garth walked through a passageway and entered a hidden club. The lights are dim and scantily clad female humans and lombaxes dance on a stage. Garth led Kyle to a booth off to the side. There were four guys, two humans, and two lombaxes. They had women all over them and there were copious amounts of alcohol on the table. Garth grabbed two chairs and pulled them up to the table.

The four guys at the table looked less than happy.

Garth simply smiled, "Well if it isn't the Quartet. You and I used to have such a... happy relationship."

One of the four, a tall lombax sipped his drink, "You almost caused our operation in New Elko get caught by the Law Men."

"A simple misunderstanding," Garth replied nonchalantly, "I assure you that situation will not happen again." He looked at Kyle. "Now, I assume you know my friend here..."

"The Hunter," a stocky human interrupted, "We heard about your fall from grace. It's a shame, you're lucky we don't have any allegiance to the Attero. Or else we'd be inclined to collect the bounty on your head."

Kyle raised a brow, "How high is it?"

"About 80,000 Gold, so you're quite valuable."

Kyle whistled, "That is a pretty penny."

"Indeed," The man looked to the lombax at his right. "We figured you'd be coming by at some point..." He then quickly reached for his pistol and started to raise it.

He didn't get a chance to fire as Garth fired a round from his silenced revolver and the man slumped in his chair.

Kyle leapt up and held his shotgun at the ready. He didn't fire as the other three didn't move.

"That was just rude," Garth commented and held his gun towards the other three. "Seems the Quartet is now a Trio, and unless you want it to be a Duo, I suggest you accept my business. Otherwise, I will let my friend here take you out. Seeing how I'm a generous bax, I will gladly pay a 5% fee. So, what do you say?"

Thirty minutes later, Garth and Kyle left the hidden club.

"Well that went well..." Kyle remarked.

Garth chuckled, "I was hoping that he would try something like that. The other three are decently reasonable, but him? Not so much, they needed him gone, they just didn't know it. So, you want out of this city?"

* * *

_Thanks for reading! What did you think?_

_Stay tuned for more!_

_Hope you have/had a Merry Christmas!_

* * *

Please use the review section for _**reviews only**_.

If you have any questions, please ask them in a review or message, don't just leave a question by itself. And if you're anonymous, well, message me if you want me to respond to the question otherwise I won't be able to and I won't respond to it via the review section.

And keep your reviews respectable and clean please. If your review contains any language or uncouth words I will delete it.

_**I will also remove anything that is not a review.**_

Sorry, but it bugs me as I love getting reviews.

I use them to improve my writing skills and it disappoints me when I see that I supposedly have a new review and I find out it is not.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this is not a chat-room or forum.

If it's a respectable review, even if you hated my story, I'll keep it on.

Thanks for reading,

Jerod2447


	23. Chapter 22, Schemes

_Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. With school starting up and my 12-hour night job, writing is kind of difficult._

_Nonetheless__, I present you the next chapter of Alter._

_Hope you all enjoy, and reviews are greatly appreciated._

_"The poet, W. H. Auden wrote, 'Evil is unspectacular, and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our table.'"_

* * *

Alter Chapter 22, Schemes

* * *

Oliver made Lance a meal and Six sat with him as the others got ready to go on the attack.

"How's the food?"

Lance swallowed a bite, "Really good! Haven't had a meal like this in a long time."

"How long?"

"Well, the last thing I ate was a rat I had caught.."

Six grimaced a bit as he remembered his own life on the street. "Ouch, that's rough, how soon was that?"

Lance paused for a second as he thought, "That was four days ago."

Six sighed and shook his head, "Do you have any family?"

Lance shook his head, "All I had were my parents and brother..."

"I'm sorry..." Six thought for a bit and looked at Oliver. "Hey, Oliver, can you..."

"I can keep an eye on the kid while you're gone." The older lombax smiled a bit.

Six nodded, "thanks Oliver."

"Where do you suggest we start looking?" Sly asked Rykk as Six tended to Lance.

"Shade is ruthless, he wants power, he needs it." Rykk looked at Rance, "You're a Law Man, think you can..."

Rance nodded, "I got some friends in the underground, I'll see what I can find out about this person, Shade."

Kenovo looked at him. "I am coming with you."

Rance did raise a brow, "I work better on my own..."

"And I can read minds."

"True... keep up." At that, Rance walked out of the bar/inn, followed by Kenovo.

* * *

Mache looked over the group as his brother left.

"So you're Kenovo's brother huh?" Bentley asked Mache and then looked at Tyra, "And sister?"

Both of them nodded and Mache spoke up, "We are."

"Can I ask you something?" Bentley asked, looking at Mache.

Mache nodded.

"Why are your eyes red when your siblings are both gold?"

Tyra looked at her brother, whose face took a more serious expression. "It is something that happens to our kind when they have been through a great deal of pain and distress." She responded when Mache didn't answer.

"Oh... what happened to him? If it is okay for me to ask."

Mache's eyes narrowed slightly, "It is not at the moment, please do not ask again." His voice was stern.

The tense tone and expression from the red-eyed Ekon unnerved Bentley just a bit. "O-okay, sorry..."

Tyra sighed, "Do not be, you meant no harm." She looked at her eldest brother, "You need to calm down. He was only curious."

Mache's expression softened... barely, "Perhaps..." was his only reply.

Bentley wheeled away, the awkward feeling growing inside him and he approached Carmelita and Sly.

"Those two are... interesting..." Bentley remarked as he got close to their table. "Quite social and funny," He said with sarcasm.

"Ekons, Lombaxes, Humans, Bonded, what the heck did we get ourselves into?" Carmelita asked with an exasperated tone. "Now Murray is..." She sighed and rubbed her head. "All I want is to go back, to go back to our world..."

"What about the one who took him from us?" Bentley asked with a somber yet vengefully-laced manner, "From the way Rykk talked, if we left, he'd eventually find a way to our world too."

Sly sipped his drink and thought for a second. "Then... once he's dealt with, we leave. Feels like this world is constantly a battleground, not a place for a family."

Bentley nodded, "Yeah, and I might have a way to get back. Like you said though, we have to get rid of this Shade person." Bentley growled, "He just, killed him. He has to pay for that."

Carmelita made a small orb of blue flame fly around her hand. "And he will..."

Sly's eyes did glow red from behind his hood, "He will pay with his blood."

* * *

Rykk meanwhile was sitting at a table in the corner of the bar. He had a depressed look upon his face and his eyes were wet.

Ratchet approached him, "Hey, are you okay?"

Rykk looked up, "I remember that day, the day I fought Calamity in New Elko, the fight that caused so much damage and destruction. I had no idea that I had killed someone."

Ratchet sat down next to the young Bonded. "It wasn't your fault, it seems that whenever Calamity was involved, people got hurt or died."

Rykk wiped his eyes, "I was just so angry, so full of rage that I didn't notice any collateral damage."

Ratchet set a glass of Black Knight in front of Rykk. "Like I said, not your fault man. Calamity was a sadistic, psychopathic monster, and everyone is better off with him gone. And he would still be around, killing, if it weren't for you. You need to stop beating yourself up over everything, you don't deserve it."

Fen approached with Arco, "You really don't." He said before he took a sip of his drink.

Arco nodded, "Besides, self-loathing isn't going to help us now. We have a new enemy, and from what you said, he's very bad, maybe worse than Calamity."

"How can anything be worse than that beast?" Fen asked with venom as he took another sip. "Shade looks dark and all, but I don't see how he can compare to Calamity."

Leo shook his head as Atlas wheeled him over to their table. "This isn't going to be a short fight, Shade is too smart and ruthless."

Fen looked at him, "Calamity was a monster that terrorized two cities and slaughtered anyone he could find."

"And Shade is a monster that has a goal and is very, very patient and manipulative. He ended up terrorizing our whole homeworld. In less than a day, he made our world into a nightmare."

Fen didn't respond and simply sipped his drink. Though he looked skeptical, Leo's words got to him a bit.

"Whoile Oi don't know about dis Shade eider," Atlas started, "Oi can really see dat 'e es not one ta be taken loightly."

Fen nodded, "yeah. I just hope Rance and Kenovo don't take too long."

* * *

The wind billowed against the fur of Kenovo's lombax body. He wasn't used to having fur, and wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Still, it seemed to be the best disguise to hide his golden eyes. A human with gold eyes would draw suspicion, but a lombax? Barely seemed to turn a head. That was probebly due to the variety of colors lombaxes came in. He thought on these things and his siblings as he and Rance flew to New Elko.

It wasn't a long flight, so he didn't have long to ponder. That and Rance was quite was either telling jokes or asking questions about Kenovo, his people, or the realm he came from. Luckily, Kenovo had an inhuman amount of patience and a good amount of wit. He was more than a little vague or just outright didn't answer the question. This both irritated and intrigued Rance and made him ask even more questions.

After the interview/flight came to an end, and Rance landed his Atmo in a public spot, he and Kenovo hit the streets of New Elko's bottom level.

The second level hung above them, like a great shield against the blazing sun. Though, there were spaces formed by walkways and other architecture that allowed sunlight to reach certain ares of the ground.

"I've always liked the lower level," Rance stated as they made their way to Rance's first contact. "I prefer the cool darkness rather than the blazing light, it feels safer."

"I see, I for one like both." Kenovo responded, "I find this city's design intriguing. So, who is your first contact? And how many do you have?"

Rance chuckled, "I have a lot, and her name is Gloria. She lives in the Red Road district. Wait, thought you could read minds?"

"I can, but I find it rude so I only do it if I have to."

"Gotcha, now, the lovely lady is this way." At that, Rance led Kenovo to a club. Loud music and women wearing next-to-nothing walked around everywhere and were both lombax and human.

Rance led Kenovo to a certain waitress/performer who looked quite stunning. She was a human with long black hair, light-blue eyes, and had a good amount of makeup on. She smiled and chuckled a bit as Rance approached her. "Well, well, I thought we wouldn't see each other for a week eh? Micah?"

Rance shook his head with a grin, "Naw, I'm here for work."

"Work's no fun, though I should've guessed, you usually don't bring friends." She pouted playfully as they headed to a booth. "So, what can I do for you?"

Rance asked as he sat down, "What have you heard about some guy going by the name of Shade?"

Gloria's expression soured a bit at the question, "Both a lot and not much, a lot of speculating. Last I heard, he was the new de facto leader of the Attero."

"He's the new head of the Attero? Are you sure?"

Gloria shrugged, "That's what I heard. He's also quite feared, heard someone in the Attero higher-ups tried to," she made a quick cutting motion across her throat. "Him, and they found the guy's men dead and the higher-up mangled and fried in his own home."

"Wow, no wonder, what about the guy I heard had taken over before?"

"He's either dead, skipped town, or is trying to get out of this city. No one knows yet." She lit a cigarette and started puffing on it. "Some of my clients are quite the tough guys, but I've never seen them this spooked before."

Rance nodded, "Thanks Gloria, you always got the best stuff."

Gloria smirked, "Dang right." She looked at Kenovo, "Who's your friend? Never seen him around before."

Kenovo answered before Rance, "I'm Ken, I am an apprentice under Rance."

"New kid huh?"

"Yes, tell me, the higher-up you said that was killed by Shade, he was a regular here was he not? He was a regular with you?"

Gloria paused and let out a breath. "How would you know that?"

Kenovo shrugged, "I can read a person pretty quickly."

Gloria looked up, "Yeah, he was... one of my best clients too... always treated me nice. Stood up for me on more than one occasion."

Rance sighed, "Sorry Gloria, we'll get em."

Gloria nodded, "Thanks hon."

* * *

Shade held a glass of wine in one hand as he looked out of the window of his penthouse. He was thinking about his next move, seeing how his position in the Attero was now secure, he wanted to focus on that pesky group. _I only got one of them and that is going to make them mad, make them furious, bloodthirsty... irrational. That can work to my advantage, make them lose their focus, their precision. I mustn't rush things, must not let myself make the same mistake. If I lay low, and they can't find me for a long time, it will drive them crazy. I can do that and continue with my goal. However... to be safe, I could let O'Bannon go after them. His only loyalty was to Mill Yates, since that group killed him, I bet he would love some revenge. In fact, if I can't locate him, he may be after them right now._

Shade sipped his wine and and sat back in a chair_._ On the table next to the soft chair was a pile of files of various colors and sizes. He picked a tan one up and laid it open on his lap and continued to sip his wine as he read. _Arco, can create force-fields... and can heal others, her "combat name" is Bastion,_ Shade chuckled a bit as he closed that file and picked up another tan file. K_ids... Fen... has a symbiotic and mental relationship with a shape-shifting hawk... _He read a bit more before closing the file and again picking up another. This file was also tan, but it looked older and more worn. _The scientists at Velocity have most certainly been busy... says here that awhile ago they tried to make the perfect super-soldier. Tried to give the subject the ability to control weather and telekinesis and telepathy... too bad the subject went rogue and is currently MIA. Guess that explains why certain scientists have gone missing... If only I could find this subject, have a few words with him and he would be a great asset. It sounds like he's going on a revenge spree... if I can find out his next target, I can find him. _Shade couldn't help but grin at the thought. _He would be devastating against the thorn in my side._

Shade set that file aside, after reading about the subject a bit more, and then picked one up that was a dark blue. Besides the change in color, this one differed in that it had no picture. _Hmm... John Doe, a serial killer that targets other criminals, namely rapists and murderers... hmm... sounds more than a bit unstable with quite a sadistic mind. He should be interesting..._

Shade then picked up a crimson file. _Hmm... Rykk White-tip... So that's what a Bonded is... hmmm... looks like he's been quite unpopular and has some mental problems... my how he has grown since I last saw him... his father was killed... such a shame, wanted to kill him myself, guess his son will have to do._

Shade set the whole stack aside and thought a bit more before picking up the older tan file. _You, I must find, you have so much potential! Still, there aren't a lot of details here, including a psych or behavioral analysis. Either they removed it from this file or it's under all this black ink. I could guess what happened but I must be sure. Think I'll go see if I can find more on this failed project._

* * *

Kyle followed Garth to a shipping yard. Atmos were landing and taking off, each one ferrying cargo of some sort and Kyle hoped he would be on the first one to Velocity. "Look, you sure about this? I mean, how trustworthy is this guy?"

Garth held his hand up in a calming fashion, "Relax, I gave the guy plenty to ensure our security. Besides, he and I go back long enough to where we could be called friends. That is, if I had any." He smiled in a nonchalant manner, "And there he is! Brock Hale! Good to see you!"

Brock was a slightly taller-than-average human with slightly shaggy hair and a five-o'clock shadow. He wore a dark-grey shirt, brown pants and a brown jacket along with a pair of grey, fingerless gloves. His brown eyes beheld an abundance of energy and sarcasm. "Garth ya old furball, how have ya been?"

Garth chuckled a bit, "You call me old again and I'll knock your teeth out." He chuckled again as did Brock.

Brock looked at Kyle, "So, this is the bax huh?"

Garth nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure I don't need to explain to you why he's here."

Brock smirked, "Ya sure don't." He said before he put his attention on Kyle, "You're lucky Garth and I have a good history and that he's paying me decently or I'd try to collect that sweet bounty on yer head."

Kyle looked at him with a slightly bemused expression, "You look familiar..."

"Ah yes, you might know me better by my professional name, The Whisp." Brock's smirk grew a bit wider as he did a goofy gesture to match his nickname.

"Oh yeah, I've heard about you, a professional smuggler/sniper for hire."

Brock did an overly-epic bow, "That's right skippy, that's me! Now, how's about we get your furry little rear outta here before someone turns ya into a fur hat?"

Kyle simply shook his head as he grinned at Brock's antics. "Sounds good, what'll we be using?"

Brock pointed to an Atmo that was painted silver and blue, "That's my baby, _The Azure_!" It was only slightly smaller than the average Cargo Atmo, but what made it stand out was the screaming hawk's head painted onto the front of the craft.

_Well that seems fitting for_ Brock, Kyle observed_ heh, he seems nuts but at least he hasn't tried to kill me yet._

As Kyle thought and observed the Atmo, he didn't realize that Garth and Brock were heading towards it.

"Hey Skippy! You coming or what?!" Brock shouted, getting Kyle's attention.

_Great, sounds like he's given me a nickname... well, this'll be a fun ride, maybe I can grab a nap. It feels odd though, not seeing O'Bannon around. It's not like that psycho to stop chasing._

* * *

Meanwhile, on a road on the Plain, a lone, small transport stopped as the driver saw a man who seemed to be struggling with his broken-down motorbike.

"Hey, you need some help?" The middle-aged man asked as he stopped.

The man working on the bike stood up, "Why yes sir..."

"You need a lift to town?"

"Yes sir... what is the closest tavern?"

The driver thought for a second, "Oh, well the closest ones would be in New Elko, but there's a really nice one out and away from the cities. It's run by some bax named... I think it was Oliver..."

"Step out of the craft sir..."

"What?"

"Step out of the craft, please... I need some help..."

"Oh... alright..." The man opened the door and slid out of the cab of the small lombaxian transport.

The man in help motioned towards his bike and the driver started to approach it.

He didn't take two steps.

O'Bannon fired his silenced pistol into the back of the man's head. He was dead before he hit the ground and O'Bannon looked at his new ride.

* * *

_Well, what do you guys think about that?_

_Hope you all liked it, and I would love to hear what you think._

_Reviews feed me and help motivate me to do better, so any and all reviews are welcome._

_Thanks for reading and stay tuned!_


	24. Chapter 23, Bane

_Hey everyone! Here's my next chapter!_

_Again, I apologize that the chapters are shorter in Alter than they were in Ravage._

_I wasn't taking college courses when I wrote Ravage heh._

_Anyways, despite that, I hope you enjoy the content._

_Let me know what you think!_

_"Faulkner once said, 'Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."_

* * *

Chapter 23, Bane

* * *

At an undisclosed location in New Elko...

A middle-aged female lombax made her way into her living quarters. She set her stuff on the counter and turned on the lights. She stifled a yell as she saw someone sitting on her couch. He was tall, and had a good amount of muscle under his black fur. His black fur was highlighted by red stripes and matching red eyes. His pupils were slits like a cats and he wore only a pair of jeans, he didn't look happy. "Hello Doctor Weiss," He said with a deep voice.

Weiss, though terrified, maintained her composure. "Bane," the moment she saw him, she knew running wouldn't work; so she simply sat down.

Bane's voice, though calm, held a distinctly vengeful tone laced with hurt and anger. "You engineered me, you made me to be nothing more than a weapon."

"We were trying to save lives..." Weiss started before Bane cut her off.

"I do not care what your reasons and rational were!" His calm demeanor broke for a short time, "You took away my future, my life, everything! You and your colleagues made me into a slave!" He took a breath and regained his composure, "You know me better than anyone else... so, do you know what happens now?"

Weiss looked down. "Yes..."

Bane's face held no emotion as he asked, "Are you ready? Do you have any last words?"

Weiss shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Alright," Bane held his hand up and Weiss began to gag. She tried to pry away at the invisible force choking her and darkness appeared at the edges of her vision.

"Hold up," a dark voice rang out and Bane paused. _What? Who could this be? _He thought as he looked at the source of the voice.

Shade stepped out from among the darkness. His black coat billowed slightly in the air, "Don't kill her... yet."

Bane raised an eyebrow, "Who are you? And what makes you think you can order me?" He held his other hand up and pointed towards Shade.

Shade smirked a bit as nothing happened, "What's the matter?" He said with a lightly mocking tone.

Bane looked a bit confused at first. Since his first trick didn't work, he then focused and then, both said and mentally commanded, "Fine, go away."

Shade looked around and didn't take a step, confusing Bane even more. "Something wrong?" His tone, again, held a very light, mocking ring.

Bane released Weiss' throat but still held her in the air. He was obviously perplexed as to why neither his telekinesis nor his telepathy was working on the stranger. "What are you?"

Shade grinned ever so slightly and only for an instant, as his expression turned to one of caring and kindness. "I am the one who will give you a life. One who will give you what you truly seek. Revenge? Revenge is so petty, so cheap. No, I believe you want more for yourself. You can feel it can't you? A gnawing hunger for a purpose, a meaning, a life outside of being a glorified weapon meant to serve those that engineered you. You want to stop them from doing this kind of thing again, well, give her to me and I will fulfill all of those goals. I will give you a life and I will make sure that experiments of the sort that led to you will not happen again. The only thing I require as of now, is that you let her live. Outside of my offer, the only thing you will find is a noose, or more likely a firing squad. Then you will only be known as the monster that killed its creators, something out of a science-fiction novel. This is your choice."

Bane pondered Shade's words, the offer was most certainly tempting. Deep down, he DID crave a life of meaning. It was the lack of real purpose that drove him to end those that made him that way. He growled slightly at the thought of having to turn Weiss over to this stranger, she was one of, if not his biggest targets. _What to do... he is right, if I simply kill her and refuse this offer, I will pass up the one chance I will probably ever get at having a life. Still, it is obvious that I cannot trust him. He obviously wants her for his own purposes and I doubt it is only to stop her from doing this again. _Bane looked up, "Who are you?"

Shade bowed his head respectfully, "My name is Daren Nightshade, however, many people know me as Shade."

"Why are you so interested in me? Why do you want to keep her alive?"

Shade held his arms behind his back in an elegant pose, "My interest in you is simple. I see such potential in you, such a future. And it pains me to see you squander it on such a silly thing as revenge alone. I know how you feel. We share quite a few similarities. You see, while I wasn't engineered to be a weapon, I was... manipulated to be one as well..." Bane's cold expression warmed by just the tiniest bit at Shade's words. "...I was taken into a program as a child and was fed lies on a daily basis. I was told that I was doing a great thing, that I would be saving lives. But, one day, I discovered the truth and planned my escape."

Bane, now curious, then asked, "What about those that imprisoned you? That lied to you? What did you do about them?"

Shade looked down and sighed, "I... I came back years later and..." Though his face bore sadness and guilt, in truth, he felt neither as he performed his act convincingly. "...I killed them..."

"How did it make you feel?"

"At first? It felt... amazing... I will not lie, but with each passing day; regret, remorse, sadness, and guilt crept in. They still haunt me to this day. That is why I implore you to release her to me and cease your spree. It is a win-win, I have plans for her and you avoid a guilt and pain that can never be undone."

Bane looked at Weiss, who was still stuck by his telekinesis. She whimpered and gave a pleading glance. He growled and made her hover over to Shade.

Shade nodded and cuffed her. He also put a gag in her mouth and tied her legs, "Good choice. Do you have any questions?"

"What now?"

Shade looked over his shoulder at him, "Now, follow me and I will show you who your true enemy is..."

* * *

Garth and Kyle sat on a pair of crates in Brock's cargo hold. They were about an hour into the flight and Kyle couldn't get comfortable enough to get a nap so he decided to strike up a conversation, "So where is this guy going again?"

Garth looked up at him, "There's an inn on the Plain, perhaps you know it? The Dragon inn?"

Kyle nodded, "Yeah I know it."

Garth shrugged, "Figured it'd be a good place for you to figure out your next move. Seeing how you're now one of the most-wanted baxes around, this place seemed like a good spot."

"I agree, what will you do?"

Garth groaned as he sat up, "Probably enjoy a few drinks. The bartender is among the best around and makes some of the wildest concoctions."

"A drink sounds great right about now."

"So, do you know who the head of the Attero sent after you?"

"O'Bannon..."

Garth's face got a more serious expression, "That psychopath?"

"You've heard of him? I thought he was only known by the higher-ups of the Attero?"

"It's my job to know things kid, and that monster is one of the few that scares me."

Kyle sighed, "Great... I know that once he's after you, he doesn't stop."

Garth shook his head, "Nope, sorry kid."

"We're here!" Brock exclaimed as he landed the Atmo. "About time too, I could use a bite and a drink." He said as he opened the hatch and let Garth and Kyle out.

"Same here," Kyle agreed as they headed for the entrance to the tavern.

"Looks like a decent fight happened here," Garth remarked upon seeing the damaged front of the inn. "But it looks like they're still open." At that, he opened the door and they entered the place. He headed straight for the bar, "Rough day Oliver?"

Oliver rolled his eyes, "Yeah, gonna cost me an arm and a leg to get that fixed."

Garth chuckled as Oliver poured him and handed him a drink. "Well seeing how popular your drinks are, I doubt it'll take long for you to be able to fix it. What happened to it?"

"Hard to explain, let's just say that some of that Bonded mischief happened."

Garth nodded, "Seems to be common nowadays."

Meanwhile, Kyle and Brock entered the inn and Brock put an arm around Kyle. "I love taverns kid, the food, the drink, everything. You never know what's gonna happen."

"I know... I've been to taverns before." Kyle said as Brock pulled him over to the bar.

"First round is on me!"

Kyle couldn't turn down a free drink,"Well... if you insist..." He then took the chance too actually look around the bar and noticed Rykk, Sly, Leo, and the others all there. _Them? They're here?! Aw bax... wait, they don't know me. They've never seen be before... Hmm... and they may be the only ones to be able to stop Shade..._

* * *

Lance sat back in his seat, his thin frame beheld a round belly. He hadn't felt so full in a long time and he expressed his thankfulness by unleashing a good burp.

Six chuckled at the kit, "Nice one."

Lance giggled lightly, "Thanks, so what are you all doing here?"

Michelle sat down next to Six and offered the kit some dessert in the form of a custard pie. "We're just waiting for some friends," Michelle answered.

Six nodded, "That's right, and then we're going on a little trip. We won't be long though and who knows when our friends will get here."

Lance was busy digging into the pie, but he managed to look up and nod. His face was covered in whipped cream and custard, the sight made Six and Michelle laugh lightly.

"You're so cute," Michelle said as she began wiping his face off.

Six calmed a bit and felt a bit of warmth in his heart as he watched his fiance clean the kit's face. He never thought he'd meet anyone who would care for him, let alone be willing to have a family. He wasn't sure if he could even have one with his... problems. Still, he knew that despite them, he was fiercely loyal to her and to his unborn child. He would do anything to keep them safe and have good lives. He was going to make sure his child turned out far better than he did, and he was going to do his best to be a husband for Michelle. _She deserves it, anyone willing to show me any amount of love deserves everything I could give them._ He then looked at Lance, _and this poor kid... he reminds me so much of myself. He deserves better, he deserves to have a family... I'll talk it over with Michelle, but I feel like we should adopt him. I will not let Lance be tossed from foster home to foster home and from orphanage to orphanage. I will most certainly not let him sleep another night on the streets..._

* * *

Kenovo and Rance hit up a few more places that turned out to be dead ends. It proved two things to them, one, that Shade covered his tracks very, very well; and two, everyone on the street was either scared or rushing to join him. They found out that a lot of people in desperate situations were turning to him as, he and his henchmen, would lure them with money, healthcare, food, transportation, anything they needed they got. As long as they did what they were told, they were good.

However, they did manage to find one lead as Rance met up with a lombax who worked in the Velocity research center.

"I'm telling you, I got a visitor who wanted to look at our archives." The lombax explained. He wasn't big or physically intimidating in any way. "All I was told was what my boss told me. That he was someone looking to fund some research and he wanted to look into our past. I tried to find out more as only top officials get that kind of access but he wouldn't say anything more..." He lit a smoke and puffed on it.

Kenovo looked at Rance, "Given his background, I would say Shade bribed or blackmailed the overseer of the research lab."

"Wait," the lombax said, "You think my boss was bribed or forced to do this?"

Rance nodded, "It sounds the most likely option." He slipped the lombax a gold Icon. "For your trouble." He winked as they walked away.

"So what would be worth so much for Shade to pull such a risky move?" Rance asked, "I mean, bribing or blackmailing an official like that is bold. He couldn't have just gone in there in the hopes of finding something..."

"He knew what he was looking for," Kenovo finished, "Now we have something. Let us go and find out what it is."

* * *

_Bane, like Six and Weiss, is Evilratchet96's characters._

_He and I are good friends and he allowed me to use them, thanks man!_

_Hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review and let me know what you liked or disliked about it!_

_Stay tuned!_


	25. Chapter 24, Something Wicked

_Hey guys, hope you're enjoying the story thus far._

_If any of you guys have any ideas for Alter, or a separate story, let me know in a review or message me!_

_Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!_

_Dostoyevsky once said, "Nothing is easier than denouncing the evildoer. Nothing more difficult than understanding him."_

* * *

Chapter 24, Something Wicked This Way Comes

* * *

Shade had locked Weiss away in a cell and after that, he headed back to his private penthouse. Sitting on a sofa was Bane who was sipping some tea, "So tell me about my "true enemies"."

Shade sat down in a chair opposite Bane, "Do you know who sanctioned your experiment?"

"Who?" Bane asked; though he knew the answer, or so he thought.

Shade mixed his own cup of coffee a bit, "Kaden Ellipse..."

Bane looked confused, "That is incorrect, I knew who sanctioned it. I was going to go after them after Weiss."

Shade shook his head, "They covered it up." He tossed a file onto the table, "This is the truth."

Bane eyed the file warily before picking it up and looking at its contents. His expression grew more sour as he read before he shut the file and set it down. "Well that is interesting... How did you get that file?"

"I got friends in the research center, I also know of a few likely places where he is."

"What do you want?"

Shade smirked lightly, "I got what I want, Weiss."

"What are you going to do with her?"

"Research, anyways, the one behind it all," Shade tapped the file with his finger, "Is him." He then held up a piece of paper, "And here is a list of locations he should be at or where you can find info of where he is. Be warned, he has some strong friends," He held up another file. "Here's all the info I have on them."

Bane took the paper and file, "You have thought this through..."

Shade nodded, "I always do. Besides, his friends of his are also a thorn in my side. And from what I understand, one of his boys is a serial killer."

"Lovely,"

"Should make it a bit easier. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

"I could use a decent meal and some rest."

Shade nodded and a floating, triangle-shaped device entered the room. A deep voice came from it, "If you need anything let me know."

Shade, "This is Flint, he is my AI companion. As he said, he will help you with whatever you need. You can stay here for the night. In the morning, you should go and tend to your business. I will wait for you here."

Bane nodded back before taking the files and Flint showed him to his room.

"Will there be anything else sir?" The AI asked.

"No, thank you Flint."

"You're welcome, sleep well sir." At that, Flint left the room and closed the door.

Bane set the records down and sat on the bed. _This a most interesting turn of events. Of course I would assume Shade is lying, but these records... they have the right logos, the right type of paper, it's the correct size and shape... it is aged appropriately too. It also makes sense, only someone as high up as him could have the authority to sanction this operation... well, might as well not dwell on it for too long and I should get some rest._ He then lay his head down on the comfortable bed.

The next morning, Bane ate breakfast that Shade had prepared for him. Afterwards, he put the file in a small sack before heading out.

Bane looked at the list, _this one is a Chief... it will be interesting..._

* * *

Shade entered the cell he had put Weiss in. He sat in a chair opposite her and pulled a strand of black hair behind his ear. "Hello Doctor Weiss, pleasure meeting you."

Weiss looked up, "What do you want?"

"I need you to make me, my own experiment..."

* * *

Kenovo and Rance approached the main research center in Velocity.

"Got any ideas how to get past the guards?" Rance said, "I mean, I could myself, but don't know about you..."

"Might help if you did not look human."

"Not look human?"

Kenovo made a motion with his hand and Rance yelped lightly.

Gold fur began to spread across his body, crimson stripes formed in it. A tail grew from his rear and his ears grew to massive size. Within a minute, Rance had turned into a lombax.

He touched his face and looked behind him and saw his tail. "Not that I have anything against baxes, but this isn't permanent, right?"

Kenovo shook his head, "I will return you to human when we are finished."

"Good," Rance began to scratch lightly, "How do they get used to all this fur?"

"Do not ask me, it still itches me too. But you do get used to it." Kenovo responded, he was also in lombax form.

"Well, that'll help us not stand out or be identified. Now we just need to get in..."

"I have an all-access pass." Kenovo responded as they got close to the gate.

"Your pass and ID please," The guard requested.

Kenovo looked at him, "I am welcome here."

The guard twitched slightly before opening the gate, "You are welcome sir."

Kenovo gave him thanks and Rance followed him to the building.

"Not bad, but how are you going to get past the key-card-locked entrances?" Rance asked in a quiet tone.

"Easy," Kenovo put his hand to the key-card reader. After a second, the red light flashed to green and the door unlocked. "There we go," Kenovo said as he opened the door.

Rance chuckled, "Can I keep you?"

The duo walked down a long hall. Lombaxes walked to and fro, doing various businesses. They kept their cool and nodded to some of them as they passed various labs. Rance found a directory. "Hmmm, agriculture, mechanics, cybernetics, software engineering; ah! Here we go, Genetics and Biology Division."

"Let us go, we cannot linger," Kenovo urged and they quickly but calmly made their way to the entrance of the Genetics and Bio Division.

Rance motioned to the card reader, "Can you use your "pass?'"

"Easily," Kenovo approached the pad and put his hand to it. Like before, the lock opened a second later and they entered the lab. As expected, tables filled with test tubes, computer interfaces, and various other equipment used for their experiments.

"This is the main lab..." Rance said in a low tone. "I doubt our project would've taken place in here."

"Agreed, our path must be through one of those doorways." On the far side of the lab were three doors.

The one to the left was marked "Storage", the middle one was "Data Records", and the one on the right was designated, "Special Operations."

"I say we look at the Data Records first, sounds less risky than Spec Ops," Rance suggested.

Kenovo was already moving as Rance spoke and he followed. Kenovo used his abilities to get past the lock and they entered a long corridor. At the end of it, sat a pair of guards at a table, with security cameras over their heads.

Kenovo and Rance were undeterred as they approached them.

"Hello sirs, who are you and what is your reason for coming?" One of the guards asked.

"I am doing research and need to look some information." Kenovo's voice overrode the guards' will. "I will need a lot of time alone."

The hypnotized guards nodded and one of them opened the door. "Take your time sir."

Kenovo nodded, "Thank you." They then entered the Records.

"Again, can I keep you?" Rance joked as the door closed behind them.

"A chatter box are you not?"

Rance shrugged, "I've been called that and worse." He looked around, there were dozens of shelves of content. Some were digital files, some were rolled-up blueprints, some were books, and it was in a semi-organized pattern.

"This will be fun..." Rance said with a half-hearted tone.

"Indeed," Kenovo responded and headed for a shelf.

* * *

Kyle decided to get a good nights rest and introduce himself in the morning. In the morning, he made his way to the bar and waited for the group to gather.

Once most of them (Mache and Tyra had left early to tend to their own affairs) woke and had come downstairs to have breakfast, Kyle approached them. "H-hey guys... I-I might be able to you."

Ratchet was the closest to him, "Who are you?"

Kyle took a deep breath, "My name is Kyle and I used to be a member of the Attero..."

Ratchet's eyes narrowed a bit and he looked at Rykk and Sly. "What made you leave?"

"Shade..." That name made everyone give attention. "...he didn't want me there and tried to have me taken out. I escaped, and came here for rest. I saw you guys and knew you were my best bet to stay alive and I would gladly help you in any way I can."

"What can you do?" Sly asked.

"I can do anything you need. I don't have any powers like most of you, but I can fight well and am good at solving problems."

"How good of a fighter?" Six asked and without warning, threw a punch at him.

Kyle evaded the punch by tilting his head to the side. He also deflected it with his forearm and threw a counter with his other hand.

Six evaded it and threw a knee towards his gut.

Kyle blocked it with his leg and grabbed Six's arm. He quickly twisted Six's wrist and pulled down. He wasn't injured, but he was thrown to the ground and had his knee on Six's chest.

Six grinned, "Not bad."

Kyle got off of him and chuckled. "You're pretty good yourself."

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I spent some time in The Guards and was taught by one of the best."

Rykk nodded towards Garth, who was sitting at a table. He was reading a book and smoking a pipe after having breakfast. "He with you? I saw you two come in together and you seemed kinda close."

"Well... he helped me get here safely."

Kaden narrowed his eyes a bit, "Oh really?"

Ratchet looked at Kaden, "Dad, who is he?"

Kaden sipped his coffee, "A traitor, an information broker. You have enough money or have something he wants, he will do anything."

"Oh..."

"Aside from Rykk, well, until he was cleared anyways, Garth was/is the most wanted person in Velocity."

Garth looked up, as if sensing that he was the topic of their conversation and he gave a friendly smile as he set his book down. He got up and approached them, "I see you all have met." His tone was warm and welcoming. "You all are quite an... interesting bunch to say the least."

"What do you want?" Kaden asked with a bit of sharpness.

Garth chuckled lightly, "What do I want? Well as of right now, nothing. I guess you could say we all have a mutual interest or enemy in this case."

"You want to help us take down Shade, is that it?" Six answered, his voice didn't sound quite as edgy as Kaden's but it was easy to tell that he didn't trust Garth either.

"Figured that out by yourself huh?"

Six glared lightly, "I'd watch it, I'm an ex..."

"Serial killer, I know who you are and kid, don't take offense but serial killers bore me." He ignored Six's light growling and continued. "I am not asking for all of you to adore me. I do believe however, that we need each other. I have resources that you do not, and both of us have an enemy that poses a very great threat to us all." He looked at Kaden, "I know what you think of me, but can you put away your feelings for the good of everyone here? And all those Shade is a threat to?"

Kaden glared, "Fine... but this does not make us friends..." At that, Kaden went outside to be alone.

"Touchy," Was all Garth said as he sat back down. He ignored Six's light glare at him.

Kyle simply remained silent through the whole discourse, mainly so that Garth would take most of the attention off of him.

As everyone calmed down, Oliver decided to ease the tension by having Bones play some music.

Clank floated over to Ratchet, "Is everything alright Ratchet?"

Ratchet sighed, "I don't know... all we can do is wait for Rance and Kenovo to return. We don't know where Shade is or what he's doing and we're just sitting around..."

"Ratchet, we must be patient. Bones told me about Shade and he is someone not to take lightly."

"I know... you and Bones are pretty close huh? Along with Bentley?"

Clank's hologram nodded and smiled a bit. "They are quite good friends of mine and I have learned a lot."

Bentley wheeled up, "I have helped Bones and Clank learn more about hacking. Entering the digital realm is great!"

Ratchet chuckled, "I bet. Sounds like you're training in case you come across Flint?"

Clank nodded, "That is true. Bones said that Shade's AI would be quite formidable."

"I bet you guys'll knock em senseless," Ratchet chuckled.

Less than thirty minutes later, as _Bad Moon Rising_ had just started playing, the front door of the inn swung open.

_I see the bad moon arising,_

_I see trouble on the way..._

Kyle turned and he went pale. _O'Bannon?! H-How did he find me?!_ Kyle quickly rolled to the side as O'Bannon fired his silenced, Vector shotgun at him. Kyle managed to avoid the shot and he drew his gun and fired back.

_I see earthquakes and lightnin',_

_I see bad times today..._

It happened so fast, it took most of the group a split-second to comprehend what was happening.

Sly was the closest to O'Bannon and he threw a fast and hard punch to his face. As soon as Sly engaged O'Bannon, Kyle ceased firing and waited for a clear shot.

_Don't go around tonight,_

_Well, it's bound to take your life,_

_Theeerre's a bad moon on the rise!_

O'Bannon was fast though, and he blocked his punch with one hand, and turned the gun at Sly with his other. He fired the gun and Sly flew backwards.

_I hear hurricanes ablowing,_

_I know the end is coming soon..._

Sly was lucky he was a Bonded and that the gun wasn't loaded with Alacrity rounds. That meant that he avoided being plastered all over the wall; still, it hurt like heck and knocked the wind out of him.

Ratchet managed to reach O'Bannon a moment after Sly had been knocked back. He swung his wrench at O'Bannon's head.

_I fear rivers over flowing,_

_I hear the voice of rage and ruin..._

O'Bannon ducked the swing and punched Ratchet on the side of his neck.

The blow made Ratchet yelp and lightly stunned him. He then tried to fire an energy pulse from his wrench but O'Bannon kicked it from his grasp. Ratchet saw O'Bannon raise the gun up, but before the killer could aim, Six kicked the gun, making it fire into the ground.

_Don't go around tonight,_

_Well, it's bound to take your life,_

_Theeerre's a bad moon on the rise..._

Ratchet then pounced with his brother, at O'Bannon. Six held his knife in and swung it.

O'Bannon's speed was incredible, still he managed to get cut by Six's dagger. The blade made a line from his side to his shoulder. It wasn't a deep cut, thanks to his evasiveness, but it still hurt. Even with being cut, O'Bannon managed to, simultaneously, kick Six in the face and punch Ratchet in the chest.

The hits were strong and knocked both of them back.

_Hope you got your things together,_

_Hope you are quite prepared to die..._

O'Bannon's eyes were cold and held little in the way of emotion; save for maybe a bit of depression and some very slight anger.

On the other hand, Six's eyes held nothing but emotion. Mostly rage and enjoyment at the thrill of a fight.

Ratchet had just as much anger, but was slightly more fearful. His fear wasn't from the strength or speed of their attacker, it was from his whole demeanor. It was obvious this guy held no remorse or even enjoyment from what he was doing. Even still, there he was.

_Looks like we're in for nasty weather,_

_One eye is taken for an eye..._

As Ratchet and Six charged again, O'Bannon drew his pistol. He rolled towards the door as shots hit the wall next to them. He returned fire with his gun and Six and Ratchet dove for cover in the opposite direction.

_Don't go around tonight,_

_Well, it's bound to take your life,_

_Theeerre's a bad moon on the rise..._

Garth was standing up and had fired round from his silenced revolver.

Knowing that his target was too well-protected, O'Bannon dashed through the door and made a tactical retreat. Ratchet, Six, and Garth gave chase but when they got outside, he was gone. He had managed to grab his shotgun as well.

_Don't go around tonight,_

_Well, it's bound to take your life,_

_Theeerre's a bad moon on the rise!_

Oliver was out back and the fight only lasted about thirty seconds or so. He had heard the shots from Kyle's gun, "Holy crap!" He ran over to Sly who was groaning and being helped by Carmelita. "Are you okay?"

Sly's torso, though bruised and banged up a bit, was fine. "Yeah... just really, really sore... Who was that creep?"

"O'Bannon," Kyle responded as he put his pistol away. "A psychopathic hit-man sent by Shade."

"He's a charmer," Six grunted, "Hit hard too. How was he that fast and strong?"

"Because he's an ex-Law Man," Garth answered, "Other than that, he's a total mystery. That's mainly due to the fact he pretty much kills anyone he comes in contact with."

"I've seen many killers before..." Six stated. "I doubt this'll be the last time we see Mr. Chuckles."

"I don't know," Ratchet said, "Something about that guy is just unsettling. I've seen many psychos before but this one seems unique."

"At least we drove him away," Sly said as he stood up. "I doubt he'd try to take us head-on like that again."

"He didn't know you guys were here," Kyle corrected. "He came for me and had you guys not been here, I doubt I would've made it. I owe you all my life."

"No problem," Six said and saw Michelle huddled behind the bar with Lance. He rushed over to them, "Holy... are you guys okay?"

Michelle nodded, "Yeah... that was just..."

"Scary," Lance finished her sentence and looked quite shook up.

Six picked him up and held him. "Shh, shh, it's okay now. He's gone, we're here."

Michelle hugged him and didn't say anything.

Rykk looked at Oliver and sighed. "Sorry about the mess... again."

Oliver also sighed, "I'm used to it by now. This kind of stuff happens when you make your business on The Plain."

Garth tossed a small sack to Oliver, "For your troubles. Besides, no one mixes and makes brews like you."

"Heh, thanks Garth."

"We need to go somewhere else," Kaden said, "It's obvious that this place isn't safe."

"Where should we go? Not like your home is much better..." Leo said, "Besides, we're waiting for Rance and Kenovo. His siblings are also still out and about."

"Who knows how long they'll be," Ratchet stated, "We've been causing Oliver too much grief anyways..."

"He'd have to come with us..." Garth added. "He wouldn't be safe here."

"So where do we go?" Rykk asked. He then yelped as Kaden, from out of nowhere, flew at him and knocked him down.

Ratchet's eyes went wide as Kaden flew through the air towards the entrance of the inn. A black-furred hand grabbed his throat and red eyes glared at him. "Hello Chief Kaden," Bane glared at him.

* * *

_Yes, I had to cut it off there, because I'm cruel! BWAHAHAHA!_

_Anyways, due to work and school, though the chapters are shorter compared to the ones in Ravage, there will be more chapters in Alter._

_And, in all probability, there will be a second part to Alter hehe._

_As I said above, I am also taking ideas for silly oneshots like Rykk's Feeding Frenzy, along with ideas for Alter._

_Thanks for reading! What do you guys think do far?_


	26. Chapter 25, Friends and Foes

_Hey guys! Here's the latest chapter, let me know what you think!_

_Phaedrus wrote, "Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many. The intelligence of a few, perceives what has been carefully hidden."_

* * *

Chapter 25, Friends and Foes

* * *

Kaden gagged and flailed as Bane held him by his throat. "P-please... l-let go..."

Bane growled lightly and tightened his grip.

"Let him go!" Six and Ratchet yelled in unison.

Bane glared at them, "You don't know what he did..."

"I don't care!" Six shouted, "He's my father!"

Garth, Kyle, Leo, and Brock all aimed their guns at Bane. However, they held their fire as not to hit Kaden.

Bane's intense look softened a bit upon hearing Six, but he still held Kaden in his grasp. "I know who you are... a serial killer..."

Six growled lightly, "I was, not any more!"

"He's my father too! Let him go!" Ratchet shouted.

Sly yelled and launched a blast of Bide at Bane.

Bane held his free arm out and the blast of time-slowing energy froze in midair and the Bane threw it aside. "Nice try Bonded..."

Sly growled and Kaden gasped and flailed even more at Bane tightened his grip more.

Tears filled both Ratchet and Six's eyes, "Please!" Ratchet cried out, "Stop this!"

"I am sorry... this has to be done..." Bane said with a cold yet slightly sympathetic tone.

Kaden's vision began to go dark and he felt confusion, sadness, and fear gripped him as he started to pass out.

Bane yelped as he was suddenly knocked aside and he released Kaden. Kaden had passed out and collapsed on the ground. Ratchet reached him first and carried him over and away from the fight.

Bane bounced and skidded on the ground a bit before he regained his senses and hovered in the air; facing Mache who had hit him aside. Bane glared and growled at him. He yelled as he rammed Mache.

Mache grunted as Bane few into the sky and he knee'd Bane in the gut.

Bane yelped and threw an elbow into Mache's chin.

Mache looked like he was more irritated than hurt by the blow and he blocked another strike by Bane before kicking him back. They flew apart in the sky and quickly recovered.

Bane spun and smashed a boulder with his fist. He growled as Tyra used her telekinesis to throw another.

Bane smashed that one and yelped at Mache hit him in the back with a bolt of red fire.

"You two are annoying me!" Bane yelled and hit Mache in his gut, "I am doing what must be done!"

Mache barely flinched from a punch that would have pulverized a normal person's torso."So am I, and I will not allow you to kill this lombax!" He then hit Bane in the side of the jaw.

Bane snarled a bit as some blood trickled from his lip. "He is a monster!" He then fired a pair of white lightning bolts at Mache and Tyra. As the siblings blocked the bolts, Bane flew back down towards the group. "And I will end him!"

* * *

Rance's eye were red and he looked pretty worn out as he yawned, "We've been looking through these records for over nine hours..." A pile of folders and content lay on a table as the duo rummaged through folders and info

Kenovo nodded and looked perfectly fine, "And?"

"I'm exhausted! Why don't you look like you're about fall over?"

"Because I do not need to sleep for another six months or so..."

"Six months? Seriously?"

"Time operates differently in my realm."

"No kidding..." Rance stood up and picked up another file. "We don't even know what we're looking for!"

Kenovo looked over Rance's shoulder. "This is an older one... and was checked out recently..." Kenovo suddenly paused and focused. "We have to go."

"What? What is it?"

"There is trouble," Kenovo said and grabbed Rance and they headed out. Rance put the file in his Utility as Kenovo quickly ushered him out of the records.

Once outside of the records vault, Kenovo grabbed Rance around the waist and flew down the halls. He weaved his way around people and used his telekinesis to gently move some aside. Needless to say, the bewildered looks on the lombaxes' faces was priceless.

"What's going on?!" Rance shouted as they flew.

"Our group is under attack! With everything going on, I started monitoring them since we left!" Sirens started to blare and red lights began to flash. "It would seem they are trying to stop us..." Kenovo said bluntly as heavy security doors and shutters began to lower.

"Ya think?!" Rance shouted as the security doors lowered over the exit. "Aw crap..." He winced and yelled as they continued to fly at the doorway and security guards fired bolts at them. Kenovo weaved around and dodged the bolts as the door cam closer and closer.

"What are you doing?!" Rance yelped as they flew and closed his eyes.

Kenovo held his arm out and rammed the metal. Though the metal was a few inches thick, and made of titanium, the door crumpled and they flew through the gap.

Rance slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "H-How'd you do that?!"

"I am not normal by your standards..."

Rance rolled his eyes. "Thank you Dr. Obvious."

* * *

Bane raised his hand and Kaden yelled as he flew into the air again.

"DAD!" Ratchet yelled as he raised his pistol and fired at Bane. Six growled and followed suit with his brother.

Bane raised his hand and a boulder blocked their shots. He then yelped as Mache flew at him and gave him a strong uppercut. The hit sent Bane spinning, head over tail, the air for a bit.

Kaden yelled as Bane had lost concentration and dropped him. He didn't have his hover-boots on and he was a good distance from the ground.

Bane snarled as he leveled off and reached out to grab Kaden with his telekinesis again. However, instead of flying into his grasp, Kaden hovered in the air.

Bane got a confused look, "What is this?"

Kaden looked around and yelped as he zipped through the air again. This time, he was pulled into Kenovo's arms and was set down.

Bane glared heavily down at Kenovo. "Why are you defending this filth?"

Mache and Tyra hovered above Bane but held back.

"Because, if he has done what you think, and shows a longing of repentance, he should be given it." Kenovo responded as he stood in front of Kaden. "Now, come on down and let us talk. I will not allow him to be harmed until you and I have civilized chat."

Bane looked around, "What is there to talk about? That lombax is a monster and he must pay!"

"What makes you think that?" Kenovo asked.

"He was the one who authorized the experiments that led to me!"

"You lie!" Kaden shouted, "I never authorized anything like you!"

"I saw the documents! I saw your name! You authorized project Bane!"

Kaden looked puzzled, "No I didn't! I denied it! I never gave anyone the green light for it!"

"Do not lie to me!"

"I am not lying!"

Kenovo chimed in, "I sense that you have telepathic abilities, right?"

Bane nodded slowly.

"Read the Chief's mind and find out for yourself."

Kaden looked at Kenovo, "I can't give him access to my..."

"I am in," Bane said and focused on Kaden as he went through his memories till he got to the relevant time-frame.

_"This is for the safety of our race!" Alistair Azimuth said._

_"No! It's tampering with something we have no right to mess with!" Kaden objected. "It's amoral and dangerous! Who knows what could happen!"_

_"There are risks, sure, but we need this! We may be the dominate species now, but there is always someone wanting to topple those on top! We must not get complacent!" Alistair argued back. "Besides, I have the perfect team set up for this! The best of the best, and you know these people are top-notch."_

_"Look, I respect you and you're my closest friend, but I cannot allow this. It is too dangerous and messes with things we don't understand."_

_Alistair sighed and rubbed his face, "What about that portal-thing we discovered?"..._

_Kaden sat in his office on Fastoon and looked at a holographic display that showed various information. He sighed and then picked up a folder and looked at what the pages inside read. It gave details into Project Bane and in a box that asked, "Approve or Deny?" He took a stamp and stamped in that box, "Deny"._

Bane grunted a bit as he left Kaden's mind. "So... you were telling the truth..." Bane looked down, "That liar..."

"Who told you I approved of this?" Kaden asked as he slowly approached him.

"He called himself Shade..."

Everyone's expression was that of anger and a bit of fear.

"He tried to turn you against us," Sly said with a rage-filled look, "He killed one of my best friends."

Bane sighed, "I am so sorry to falsely accuse you, and I would gladly help you go after him."

"How much does he know about you?" Rance asked.

"He knows everything, he obviously had that file and forged it to look like it was approved."

"I do not get it," Tyra said, "If he knew you could read a person's mind, then why would he send you too attack? He must have known there was a chance that you would simply read his mind and discover the truth..."

"I do not know," Bane responded, "That question ran through my mind immediately after reading Chief Kaden's..." Bane's eyes went wide, "Weiss... he took her!"

Kaden's eyes also went wide, "You know how much she knows?! She is practically one of the smartest lombaxes ever!"

"Take us to where you met him!" Sly said and Bane nodded.

"I'm coming too!" Rykk said.

Kyle also stepped forward, "Count me in."

Six also said he would go. "My dad said we could use his Atmo..."

"Not necessary," Bane responded and at that, they all began to levitate in the air. They all yelped as Bane's telekinesis lifted those who couldn't fly.

Rykk didn't need it as he could fly himself and he flew up alongside them. "Let's go!"

Tyra followed along, "You will need some help." She looked back at Mache and he nodded.

"The more the merrier," Sly responded with a slightly vengeful tone.

As they spoke, Garth listened and his eyes shined a bit. _Weiss is in trouble? This just got very interesting... I'll need to make a few calls and hit up some contacts..._ He then sat back at the bar and looked at his glass of half-filled Black Knight and thought for a bit. He then looked up at Oliver, "This game just got very interesting..."

Oliver nodded, "Quite so it would seem... what are you going to do?"

Garth downed the rest of his drink, "First, I'm gonna have some more of your brews. Then... gonna get into this little game..."

* * *

Lance looked out as they flew off and approached Michelle. "Wh-where are they going? What's going on?" He looked more than a bit scared.

Michelle put an arm around his shoulders, "They're going to get the bad guys." She gently rubbed his back, "We'll be okay Lance."

Lance took a deep breath and calmed a bit by her presence, "Oh... so what are we going to do?"

Michelle thought for a second, "You wanna go help Oliver? I bet he could use some help cleaning up this mess."

Lance nodded a bit, "Sure."

Oliver was trying to repair the front of the inn. He had his toolbox out and was hammering a board into place.

Lance approached him, "Can you fix this?"

Oliver smiled and nodded, "It'll take some time but I've seen worse than this kid." You wanna hand me that tube of Epoxy?" He pointed to a tube in his toolbox.

Lance handed it to him and he put some into a hole where a Vector round had hit. He then took a tool and used it to smooth the plug.

Lance noticed that the white epoxy stood out from the wood, "You have any paint?"

Olive nodded, "I do, how about you help me plug these?"

"Really?"

Oliver smiled and did pat him on the back before he went and got a bucket of paint and a brush. He stirred the paint up and handed Lance the paintbrush.

Lance smiled and started to paint the plug. Once finished, Oliver handed him the tube of Epoxy, "Just do as I do."

"Really? You sure?"

"Yeah kid, it's not hard."

Michelle smiled as she watched Oliver and Lance bond. _He's like an uncle to the kid, I really hope all this settles down soon... _She sighed, _please come back... _She rubbed her stomach, _I'm going to need help raising this kid... _

* * *

Shade sat in the passenger area of a luxurious ship as it flew from Velocity. The interior was lavishly decorated yet simple and not overbearing on the eyes.

Sitting across from him, was Weiss and they were enjoying a rather nice meal. She wore a comfortable dress that was neither too elegant nor too casual. Even though she held the appearance of a guest or friend, she knew that she was his prisoner. She took a sip of wine and looked up at her captor. "Why are we moving?"

Shade swallowed a bite of his meal, "It was not safe there for you."

"For me? You mean for you, because of Bane. You're planning that he would be coming back and he wouldn't be happy with you."

Shade nodded, "Yes..."

"You never intended to use him for long did you?"

"No," Shade shook his head, "It's only a matter of time before he turns against me."

It then dawned on her, "He wasn't what you wanted..."

Shade smirked, "Not bad, your intelligence truly is remarkable." He smiled a bit, "Bane has the power, but his mind doesn't fit what I need." He pulled out a file and set it down on the table in front of her.

She looked at it before opening and looking in it, "Project Vause? H-how am I going to do this? I don't have any equipment."

"I will provide what you need."

She set the file down, "You should know I'd rather die than help you." As quick as she could, she grabbed knife off of the table and tried to dig it into Shade's neck.

Unfortunately for her, Shade was too fast. He deflected the stab with his arm and held the knife up. With his free hand, he grabbed her head and slammed it into the table, pinning her forehead to the tabletop. The blow was hard enough to hurt, but not cause injury and she yelped. The move happened so fast, it was nearly instant to her.

Shade leaned close to her ear and whispered. "Oh yes, I know that. You see, one of the things I was taught, was to figure out a person's pressure points and weaknesses. To get inside someone's mind, to know what they've done, are doing, and will do. And then, bend their mind and weaknesses to my will. You may be a genius doctor, but I can read you like a book. I know your weak links." He then released her and took the knife.

Weiss sat back up and composed herself before raising a brow, "I don't have any..."

"Raz?" Shade asked with a knowing tone.

Weiss froze for a split second that was barely noticeable. H_-how does he know about him?! I had every record of him erased! Calm down... play it cool._ "What's that?"

"You mean who? Doctor, surely you remember your first experiment? Taking a lombax embryo and messing with their genes? Tsk, tsk, first time around didn't go as well as you thought didn't it?" He held up a single picture. In it was a Weiss holding a very young kit. The kit had silver fur with no stripes and blue eyes. He set the picture on the table and flipped it over. On the back was written, "Raz".

Weiss couldn't but show her worry upon seeing the picture. "Wh-where did you get that?"

"It took a lot of digging, both at your lab and house... and I know where he is. You do what I say, and I'll let him live."

Weiss picked up the picture and looked at it longingly, _my baby boy..._ "How do I know that you won't hurt him?"

"Once you are finished, I will let you see him. However, you mention me or anything pertaining to this project and I will have no choice but to kill both of you." Shade's tone was deathly cold, indicating that he had no qualms about doing that very thing. "Is that understood?"

Weiss let out a remorseful sigh, "I understand..."

Shade nodded and held up his glass of wine, "Good, cheers."

* * *

_Thanks again to EvilRatchet96 for letting me use his characters and intertwine them with my story._

_You guys should check out his stories, he's got some really cool ideas._

_Whatcha think of Shade? And if you have any ideas, let me know by either messaging me or in a review._

_Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter, what did you think of it?_

_Let me know! and stay tuned!_


	27. Chapter 26, Darkness Closing In

_Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, my life is pretty hectic right now._

_Things are gonna be changing regarding my job and living quarters._

_Still, I'm able to get some time to write and work on these stories!_

_Anyways, hope you enjoy!_

_G.K. Chesterton wrote: "Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed."_

* * *

Chapter 26, Darkness Closing In

* * *

Shade led Weiss into New Elko, into the Red Road district. The area looked wild and worn, nearly every building was in some state of disrepair, the roads were uneven, and almost every other building had a red light hanging. The towers loomed ominously, giving the place a dark and foreboding feel. Every now and then gunshots and/or yelling would ring out.

Still, Shade seemed unfazed and strode around like he owned the place.

Weiss grunted as he held her by the arm, "Nice place..."

"It serves it's purpose," Shade retorted as he pulled/led her to a building. He knocked on the door and a rough-looking human male opened it. No words were spoken as Weiss was escorted through what looked to be an Attero hideout. "I have a lab set up for you, the files I examined listed everything you will need."

Weiss looked around as they entered a makeshift lab. She examined all the machines, tech, chemicals, and other equipment they had assembled. "A bit archaic but it'll do... the only thing missing is an embryo. Don't suppose you have a plan for that?"

Shade nodded, "I would like you to provide the egg and I will provide the necessary other half of the genome."

Weiss raised a brow, "How do you expect me to provide a healthy egg from myself?"

"Oh I have a friend here that you could consider an assistant." Shade motioned to a screen and an image of Flint appeared in its corner. "Say hello to your helper, Flint."

"An AI? Well that makes things easier..." Weiss remarked as her mind wandered off, "When can I see Raz?"

"When he gets here, I will let you meet with him for a bit. For now, I believe you and Flint have some work to do."

Weiss groaned lightly as Flint's hologram appeared on a floating, triangular device and he began to show her around the place.

Shade then left the lab and got on his communicator. "Yes, tell me you've found him..." His brow furrowed a bit, "I see... I need him in my possession ASAP!... I don't care what you have to do..." Shade's tone gained some frustration, "Fine, tell me what you know... well, you found out who the father is? Hmm... that's interesting... you haven't been a total failure... Of course not! ...Now go back to my old residence, you should give a warm greeting to my acquaintances... yes, of course you can do what you want... as long as it fits my wishes, have fun... you too... good luck." At that he hung up and put the device away. _That's being handled, Weiss is with Flint, I should go check up on this new information. First thing, I need to check on my... personal project. _He thought as he walked down the hall.

Shade left he building and flew out onto the Plain, making sure no one saw him. He made his way to a canyon and from there he entered a cave at the base of the canyon. He didn't have an issue walking around in the darkness, he could see just fine and he strode through the cave like he did the Red Road, like he owned it.

Yells, chittering, and voices rang out as he descended into the cave. Shade walked into a chamber that was a good distance from the cave's entrance, "Hello there, how are you all?"

Eight, glowing eyes greeted him, shiny white irises surrounded blazing red, slit-shaped pupils. Four humanoid creatures approached him with eager chittering and greetings.

"We are just fine here!" One voice, dark and raspy rang out.

"Yes! The darkness is cool and soothing!"

"Have you brought us food?" Another asked eagerly.

"The cave is nice, but we lack a good meal!"

Shade summoned a pair of bags from his Utility and set it on the ground, "That should keep you all fed for a few days."

The four creatures pounced on the bags and tore them open to get at the food inside.

"Sir," one of them perked up, "While this cave is good, we would like to get out and spread... when will that happen?"

Shade sighed, "When I get more of our kind and when I get a worthy accomplice. I am working on both of those, for now, be patient. We have powerful enemies and if they find out about you all, they will kill you easily. We need greater numbers but I can't get too many converted too soon or else suspicion will arise."

The four creatures muttered, satisfied by his answer but not happy about it.

"Got it, better living in this cave for a bit than dead..."

Shade nodded, "Good, and like I said before; anyone finds you, consider them either a free meal or conversion, whichever you prefer."

Those words were met with nearly gleeful chitters and sounds of eagerness.

"Now I have to go and help make this plan of ours work, you all behave okay?"

Yells and chitters of agreement rang out and Shade smirked a bot, "Good, I'll be back."

* * *

Sly, Bane, Rykk, Kyle, Six, and Tyra all arrived at Shade's penthouse in Velocity.

Tyra touched the front door and it unlocked.

"You would've been handy in my thieving days." Sly remarked as he entered the penthouse first; his staff in hand and his eyes and ears on the ready.

Tyra smirked a bit as she followed.

Everyone else had their weapons in hand and they quickly but carefully entered and surveyed the place main living room.

"He's gone," Rykk stated as his pupils glowed yellow, indicating he was using his ability to see through the walls. "There's a lombax in the bedroom..."

Sly teleported over to the door and punched it open.

Inside was a lombax with light-brown fur, gold stripes, and silver eyes, and he looked to be in his late twenties. He yelped and leaped into a closet and shut the doors.

Sly raised an eyebrow and opened the closet doors, "Who are you? What's going on?"

The lombax was obviously shaken up and looked up at him. "Th-the name's Tyson, wh-who are you?"

"I'm Sly, what are you doing here?"

"Master told me to stay here..."

Sly's eyes narrowed, "Tall human-looking person? Black hair, freaky eyes and pale skin?"

Tyson nodded, not looking up at him.

"He kept you as a slave?"

Again he nodded and whimpered.

Sly sighed, "Alright, you're okay now. He's gone and we'll help you."

The frightened lombax looked up, "R-really?" He hugged Sly's legs and Sly yelped, "Thank you!"

Sly was a bit taken aback by the sudden display of affection, "Uh, don't mention it. Though I am gonna need my legs..."

Tyson quickly got to his feet and chuckled in an embarrassed manner. "Sorry... just feels good now that he's gone."

By this time Rykk and a few of the others were with Sly.

"Can you tell us anything?" Tyra asked, "What was he doing?"

Tyson thought for a second, "He didn't tell me anything, he made sure I didn't overhear anything either. Whenever he did, he locked me up in a part of the building where I couldn't hear him."

Sly sighed, "Do you know where he is?"

Tyson shook his head, "No, I've only been to one other place besides this one, and it wasn't a place to live. It looked like some kind of warehouse or factory."

"A warehouse?" Six asked, "Do you know where it is?"

"I'm sorry... he really didn't let me know anything."

"It's alright, we'll find him..." Sly did pat Tyson on his shoulder. "Do you have any friends or family you'd like to contact?"

Tyson sighed, "No, my family was killed and I was taken into this... mess..."

"Oh... I'm so sorry," Sly sighed, "Well, you're welcome to stay with us. You're probably better off that way."

Tyson nodded.

"We need to look for any kind of lead we can find here." Six stated as he began to look around the penthouse. "This guy sure knows how to live, I'll give him that..."

"Shade's always had a taste for finer things," Rykk added as he looked around the bedroom.

Rykk was right, the penthouse was furnished with elegant, yet modern decor. Crimson, gold, and white were the main colors of the furnishings, all atop a dark brown, wooden floor. The view from the patio was breath-taking, it overlooked the center of Velocity. Tall towers encircled the main square where lombaxes and their various means of ground transports moved to and fro. The towers against the yellow sky and the crimson ground and rock formations in the distance was a sight to behold.

About a half-hour later, as the group was still searching, there was a knock on the front door. The sound made everyone freeze.

Kyle was the closest to the door and he approached it slowly. He peered through the peephole and saw three, human males: one older, in his late thirties-early forties and had a bunch of scars on his face, one was taller and thicker in muscle, and the last one was younger, somewhere in his late-teens or early twenties. _Hmm... the older one and the youngest one look related, _Kyle thought. _And familiar, though I can't place them... ugh... where do I know these guys from? _"Guys, we got three visitors, two of them look like a father and son."

Bane focused and after a moment, he grunted. "I can't get in their heads for some reason."

"Wonderful," Kyle retorted as the oldest one raised a silenced, McVoy pistol and shot at the handle.

Kyle yelped and jumped back as the biggest one kicked the door back, drew and fired a similar gun.

Kyle sidestepped the round and threw a punch and a kick at the same time.

The big one dodged the kick and parried the punch before trying to shoot Kyle again.

Kyle managed to grab the hand holding the gun and pulled it towards himself while he simultaneously side-stepped it, making the round miss his torso. He then threw a strike at the man's head.

The man blocked it with his one free hand and then kicked Kyle back and he entered a bit further into the penthouse.

The oldest one attacked Six, who was among the closest to the doorway. He aimed and fired his pistol at him.

Six was faster though and ducked the shot before managing to throw a strong uppercut to his chin.

The oldest man yelped and was knocked back a bit but didn't seem that fazed by it as he tried to shoot him again. Before he could however, Six threw a strong side-kick to his torso and the man as knocked back again. However, he did manage to fire a round and it grazed Six's ear and he yelled a bit.

"You'll pay for that!" He shouted as he charged the guy again, this time he drew one of his daggers.

The youngest one quickly ran past them and fired a dart at Bane. He was incredibly fast, and the actions of the two others distracted Bane just long enough for the dart to lodge in his neck.

Bane grunted and stumbled back, he pulled the dart out and looked at it. _A knock-out dart..._ was all he thought before passing out.

Tyra ran up just in time to see Bane fall before the youngest one shot her with a dart as well. Due to her being a different race, yet still disguised as a lombax, the dart took a bit longer to affect her. In that short time she used her telekinesis to push back both of the assailants into the hallway's wall. Her vision grew dark and she too passed out.

Despite the heavy blow, which left imprints of their bodies in the wall, the father and son attackers seemed to just shake it off. They groaned a bit before pulling themselves out of the wall.

Given the narrow conditions of the entrance, only so many of the group could engage them at once. Kyle and Six were the closest and Rykk, using Alter, phased through the walls and pounced at them.

The older one drew another pistol and fired at Rykk while the younger drew a Vector shotgun and fired at Six.

Rykk dodged a few rounds before a few hit his torso, luckily they weren't the very powerful, Alacrity rounds so they didn't penetrate his skin. Still they hurt badly and knocked him back.

The same thing happened to Six, only his hurt a lot more as he was hit with the full blast and sent rounds knocked the wind out of him and he groaned as he lay on the floor. His dagger flew across the room, away from him.

Kyle managed to not get hit by the rounds and resumed fighting the older attacker.

Sly growled and swung his staff at the younger one and managed to knocked the gun out of his hands. He then fired at blast of Bide at him, but the younger one quickly evaded it.

The young attacker then drew a pair of blades and started swinging them very quickly and precisely at Sly.

Sly countered this by teleporting around and evading his slashes while firing back with blows from his staff.

Six groaned and tried to get up and recover from the blast. He looked up and saw the bigger one approach him with his pistol. The man aimed the gun and fired.

Six managed to roll to the side and barely evaded getting shot in the temple. Instead he got hit in the eye and he yelled loudly as blood began to flow.

Rykk growled loudly upon seeing what happened and pounced at the guy. His claws came out and he started trying to slash the guy up. However, the guy was fast and strong and he managed to avoid being ripped to shreds but he did get cut up decently.

Rykk yelped a bit as the man kicked him off and punched him in the face. He then grabbed his pistol and shot Rykk in the torso four times, knocking the wind out of him and incapacitating him for a bit.

As the bigger guy was reloading his gun, Six pounced on him. Despite his injuries, Six managed to pin him and he knocked the gun from his hand as blood drizzled from his hurt eye. He snarled as he raised the dagger he had lost from the fight and plunged it into the guy's chest. He leaned forward, "I said you would pay!" At that he yelled and repeatedly stabbed the guy.

The other two attackers, upon seeing Six repeatedly stab their accomplice, kicked back their opponents. They then quickly fled out the front door, looks of rage and anger upon their faces as they did so.

Sly looked back at Six, the lombax's front was covered in blood, both his own and his attacker's. He groaned as he stood up and put his hand over his eye and grimaced. "I need to have this looked at by Bones..."

Sly also grimaced, "No kidding, but we'll need to wake up Bane and/or Tyra."

"I have something that'll get them up." Six said and he fetched a vial with a yellowish liquid. "Open it under their noses, that should get them up."

Sly nodded and went over to Bane and opened the vial under his nose.

Bane grunted and shifted around a bit as he came to. "Uuugh... wha?"

Sly then went over and did the same to Tyra.

"Any idea who those three were?" Sly asked.

Kyle shook his head, "No, they weren't Attero thugs. They were better trained and they didn't have the look the Attero thugs have."

Rykk looked at the one Six killed and he too shook his head. "He doesn't look familiar, neither did the other two." At that he began to search the guy. "Well, he had a lot of money... and quite a few blades... he doesn't have any form of identification though... crap." He said as he finished. "We looked around this place for a good amount of time, and I used my vision to see through the walls and we haven't found anything."

"I say we go back and regroup," Tyra said, "Your friend is hurt and there is nothing we can do here. We can take a picture of this guy and see if we can learn his identity."

Kyle nodded and took out his communicator. He used it to snap a picture of their assailant and some pictures of the penthouse as the group got ready to head back to Oliver's.

Bane used some cloth and bandages in the penthouse to make Six a temporary eye-patch and he used some of his abilities to help slow the bleeding in his eye.

About an hour later, they arrived back at Oliver's. They entered the inn and were greeted with an interesting sight. Sitting at the bar with Garth and Brock was a peculiar lombax. It wasn't so much his looks that made him look odd, it was the way he was sitting. He wasn't so much as sitting as he was crouching on the bar-stool. He had forest-green fur with dark grey stripes. His eyes were also abnormal; the scleras of his eyes were silver in color and both his irises and pupils were the same forest-green as his fur. He also wore a rather plain, dark blue, t-shirt and black jean pants. He didn't wear any shoes and he was not concerned about it as he sipped on a cup of Prime.

However, the new lombax was briefly forgotten when Oliver looked up and saw that they had returned. He hurried over to Six. "Oh my, what happened?" He said as he helped the hurt lombax over to a table. Michelle rushed over and looked, understandably, extremely worried.

Garth held onto Lance and made sure he didn't see the mess.

Ratchet and Kaden both rushed over with very concerned looks as Sly informed them all of what happened.

Tyson was with them as well and he sat at a table and watched the group as they listened to Sly.

As Sly talked, Kenovo approached Six and sat across from him. "Remove your hand and let me look," He said with a gentle yet firm tone.

Six whimpered and grunted lightly as he did so and Kenovo examined his eye for a few seconds. "I see... well... let me try this..." At that Kenovo held his hand towards Six's damaged eye where his fingers pointed at the wound. As he did, a multi-colored energy lept from his hand. It was mainly black with red and white swirls mixed in and it poured into Six's hurt eye. After a few seconds, the tissue, muscle, and nerves of the eye began to seemingly move on their own accord. Kaden, Ratchet, and the others around him watched in amazement as the nearly destroyed eye started putting itself back together. After a few minutes, Six's once-blue eye looked pale-blue with a silvery pupil.

"I could not restore your sight to fully normal," Kenovo said once he finished. "However, I managed to give you something to off-set your loss a bit. Your right eye can now sense thermal heat and be used as a sort of night vision."

Six sighed, "Well, that's good at least... thanks Kenovo."

"And to prevent you from being blinded during the day," Kenovo handed Six a black eye-patch. "This patch will help you from being overwhelmed."

Six took it and put it on. "I might be able to get used to this..."

"I'm so sorry..." Michelle said and held his hand.

"Thanks," he responded.

"Well... it is kind of cool." Michelle added, trying to lighten his mood a bit.

"Really?" Six perked up slightly.

Michelle nodded and rubbed his back a bit.

Sly looked back over at the odd lombax and nodded towards him. "Who's that?" He asked Oliver.

"Oh him? A friend of Garth's, he's a Bonded and an investigator. Garth thought he'd be of some help for you all."

"What's his name?"

"Um... oh yeah, Torz. He's very smart but, quirky heh." Oliver answered.

"Why's he sitting like that?" Six asked.

Oliver shrugged, "I dunno, why don't ya ask him?"

Sly nodded and headed over to Torz who looked up at him with a slightly bored look.

"Can I help you?" Torz's voice was calm, mellow, and sounded intelligent and analytical.

"I'm Sly Cooper, Oliver said your name was Torz?"

"Correct, I am sorry about the loss of your friend, and the injury your other friend has sustained." He sipped his drink a bit and then looked back at Sly. "Tell me, what has Shade done?" Sly looked at him and began to explain everything that happened before he was quickly interrupted by Torz. "No, I know all that, I mean, what has he done?"

"I don't follow."

Torz sighed, "Shade is currently in control of the largest gang around. Whatever his plans are, they must need the resources that position gives him. What we need to do, in order to draw him out and stop his plans, is to remove him from power." He took another sip of his drink before turning and looking over at Six. "I sit like this because if I sit normally, my reasoning abilities drops."

Six looked at him with a slightly confused expression, "Okay..."

"By the way," Torz continued, "Congratulations on expecting your first child. You and Michelle must be so eager." Even though he legitimately meant it, his tone barely showed any enthusiasm.

Michelle looked a bit bewildered, "I didn't tell you I was expecting."

Torz sipped his drink, "I know."

Garth chuckled, "Torz here has a gift at reading people."

"Plus one of my Bonded abilities is to read a person's vital signs just by looking at them." Torz said before he looked at Bane and his eyes shimmered a bit. "Ah, most interesting."

Bane raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You are a genetically engineered lombax who can read minds, move things with your mind, have some ability to control the weather, and are physically enhanced. Your fur colors, black with red stripes, was meant to make you easier to spot in a crowd yet also give you decent camouflage at night. You also have a very high intelligence and though you are very smart, you are relatively inexperienced and this tends for your emotions to guide you rather than logic, at least for the time being. Plus, you seem to have been smitten a bit by our Ekon friend, Tyra."

Bane, for the first time, blushed. He was rendered speechless and could only scratch the back of his neck.

Tyra looked over at him, "Is that true?"

"Uh... maybe..."

It was Tyra's turn to blush and she stepped outside.

Six looked at Torz who still had the same, slightly-bored look on him. "Um, wasn't that a bit much?"

Torz tilted his head slightly, "A bit much of what?" He sounded genuinely confused by the question.

"You embarrassed him."

"I did?" Torz shrugged, "I just said what I saw, nothing more."

"Alright..." Six didn't know what else to say after that.

Sly chuckled a bit, "So what do we do to remove Shade from power?"

Torz looked over at Kyle, "We will need his help."

Kyle nodded.

* * *

Mache and Kenovo followed Tyra outside.

"So, Bane has feelings for you. How do you feel?" Mache asked.

Tyra looked at him, "I do not know, I have never heard someone say they felt like that about me."

"From what I can tell, he has a good heart but is simply a bit naive." Kenovo added. "In time he will learn and mature. He will also live longer than the average lombax."

"But not nearly as long as we will brother," Tyra stated. "Unless we find some way to extend his life..."

Mache nodded, "We might be able to find a way." He looked at Kenovo, "What do you think?"

Kenovo nodded back, "I think it may be possible." He smiled a bit at Tyra, "This is obviously your choice, and we will not interfere."

Tyra smiled a bit back and hugged her brother, "Thank you Kenovo."

They released the hug and Kenovo headed for the door, "I am going to see how Six is doing and make sure no one tries to harm Torz." He chuckled a bit.

After Kenovo headed back inside Mache looked at Tyra and she said, "Seems this whole conflict this group has with Shade is a good distraction. Yet Shade is also a very credible to our plans."

Mache nodded, "Very true, and as such we will continue to help them fight this monster. While at the same time we will continue our plans. However, I will have to hold off on recruiting Six to our cause. At least so directly, over time we may be able to gain allies to our cause. Besides, as we both know, our kind's measurement of time back in our realm is longer than how people measure time here."

"So this does not really affect our plans at all?"

"As long as we keep Shade in check, no." Mache smiled a bit, "We are going to rid both universes of evil. There is no one out there, other than us, who'd be willing to eliminate the vermin from the realms. If we don't do it, then who will? That's just it, there's no one. We can do it. In fact, We're the only ones who can. We'll do it for those that live good, wholesome lives, so that they will not have to fear being victims."

Tyra smiled back, "We will do it."

* * *

_Well guys, this is my longest chapter of Alter yet and I hope you all liked it!_

_What do you think? Please let me know as it helps me improve my writing and motivates me to write more!_

_Stay tuned for more!_


	28. Chapter 27, Tumult

_"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough, and liked it, never really care for anything else."_

_Ernest Hemingway_

* * *

Chapter 27, Tumult

* * *

The group huddled around Torz as Garth sat at a table and sipped on a drink. Mache and Tyra were still outside having their discussion while Oliver, with Lance's help, continued fixing the inn.

Torz held a cup of coffee that he constantly kept adding sugar to. "Kyle, how many people in the Attero would you say are allies?"

Kyle thought for a bit, "Well, I was more of a loner but I had a few friends. Though not that many..."

"Anyone higher up?"

"I do know someone close to the top. I just don't know where his loyalty lies."

Torz looked down for a second, "I am fairly certain that the majority of the Attero would have no interest in Shade's actual plan. Indeed, if they found out what he's actually planning, the gang would probably become a bit of an ally to us. The major problem in dethroning him is his silver tongue and intimidation. These two things, combined with his intelligence gives him a very solid platform."

"So what **can** we do?" Six asked.

Torz looked at him, "We must convince the gang that Shade is simply using them for his own agenda and that it doesn't line-up with what they want. The main problem in doing that is fear, those near the top aren't stupid. In fact, most of them have probably figured this out and are simply too afraid to do anything against him."

"If we offer them our support, you think they'd turn on him?" Carmelita asked as she sat down in a chair.

"Perhaps," Torz said before looking at Leo and Rance, "Though you two will have to stay out of any direct interaction with the Attero. The last thing we need is for them to get spooked by some Law Men."

Leo nodded while Rance shrugged, "Eh, no problem. I prefer hiding and spying from a distance anyways."

Torz looked at Kyle, "Get in contact with your friend. If you can, let me talk with him."

"Alright," Kyle said and Garth tossed him a communicator over his shoulder.

"That is untraceable and cannot be bugged," Garth stated as he sipped his drink.

"Nice, well... here goes." The lombax took his new communicator aside and started his call.

"Torz," Ratchet asked, "How much about Shade do you know?"

"Hmm... besides the info you all, already know, not a ton. However, I'm pretty sure I can tell you who your attackers are. Bones, would you and Clank mind pulling up their pictures and info?"

Bones and Clank's holograms appeared on their devices.

"Gladly sir," Clanks responded as he and Bones projected holograms of their attackers, along with their names.

Upon seeing their names, both Rykk and Leo's eyes widened.

"Samuel Roth, Marcus Roth, and Amador Roth," Torz read aloud, "Samuel Roth is the father and Marcus and Amador are his sons. From what you guys say, Six killed Marcus back in the apartment, correct?"

Six nodded, "Yeah, stupid twit took my eye..."

Torz saw both Leo and Rykk's reactions, "I assume you two know of them? It makes sense seeing how they were major enemies to your mentor Leo..."

The rest of the group looked at Leo and he sighed, "Yeah, like Shade they were killed a long time ago. Seems he had them brought here in the same manner."

"Undoubtedly," Sly said, "Can you tell me what about them makes them so special?"

"Well, like Shade they're psychopaths; completely unable to empathize or feel compassion. To them, people are pawns or toys for their sadistic pleasure. Samuel is the worst of the trio, he's more wild and unpredictable than his sons. Amador is colder but just as sadistic and cunning." Leo looked at Six, "And you, just made it personal..."

Six shrugged, "I can take em."

Leo shook his head, "You don't get it. The Roths won't come after you, not right off." Leo motioned with his eyes to Ratchet, Kaden, Michelle, and Lance. "They will come for them eventually."

Six growled, "I'd like to see them try..."

Rykk stood up, "On their own, they wouldn't have much chance against all of us. The problem is they're real pals with Shade."

Torz nodded, "That's the problem. Shade is more intelligent and less impulsive but their psychotic behavior makes them very hard to predict."

"So, how do we..." Sly was about to ask but was interrupted as white smoke began to rapidly fill up the bar.

No one had time to determine the source, one by one, they each grew faint and passed out.

* * *

Sly groaned as he came to, his head pounded and his vision was blurry and his ears rang. It took him a few seconds for his senses to clear up enough to be able to look around and see his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was his change of wardrobe. He wasn't wearing his normal getup of a sleeveless, hooded, dark blue shirt and dark grey pants. Instead he wore a blue jumpsuit with the number, _681_ on its back and front and it was on the sides of his pants. _Wha? What's going on? Where am I? _He looked around and saw that he was in a prison cell with Ratchet and he sat up. _What is this? We didn't break any laws or anything!_ He looked through the bars of his cell and saw others from their group in cells as well.

The cell block was quite large and armed guards routinely patrolled the walkways. They didn't look like any of the law enforcement from Velocity or New Elko.

Ratchet groaned as he sat up and held his head, "Ugh, what's gong on?" He thought aloud, "And why are we in a prison?"

"I don't know," Sly responded as he got up and realized he was wearing a collar. "Great, restraining collars..."

"So much for using our abilites to get out huh?"

"I'm a master thief, it's only a matter of time before I find a way out." Sly remarked with a light grin.

Ratchet looked out of their cell through the bars and saw Rykk and Rance in the cell across from them. Rykk had wide eyes and seemed to look more than a bit afraid.

Above Rykk and Rance were Six and Leo. They too looked just as confused as Sly and Ratchet.

Sly and Ratchet then heard Carmelita and Michelle groan from the cell to their right.

To their left, they heard Lance trying to wake up Oliver.

Soon, the voices of the others rang out with confusion, yet Rykk still had that look on his face.

Once he regained his senses, Rance noticed Rykk's expression. "Tell me what's going on..."

Rykk looked at him and he looked quite afraid as he touched the collar on his own neck. "Years ago, my father and a friend of his told me about when they fought against Shade. One of the big things they talked about was a prison that Shade owned. He would kidnap people and throw them in it. He would then host various gladiatorial-style fights with them for the amusement of his constituents and friends."

Rance's face showed about as much distaste as it could, "Why would Shade leave us alive? I thought he wanted us all dead?"

Rykk looked around, "Roth probably wanted us to stay alive. The guy's a sadist like Calamity, only much more psychotic."

"Lovely, at least he ain't as strong as Calamity," Rance remarked.

"Yeah..."

An Announcer from the PA system called out, "384 and 681 to ring three!"

Sly looked up and growled a bit as he saw guards approaching his cell. Before he could fight back however, he yelped as his collar gave him a shock.

Ratchet yelped as well and while the shock wasn't fatal, it was quite painful. Once the collar stopped shocking them, Ratchet and Sly were dazed for a bit as the guards came and took Sly away.

Sly was dragged to a large stadium where, in the center, were four, caged rings. There were two other matches going on when they tossed Sly into Ring 3.

He grunted as he landed on his shoulder and slowly got up. He looked up to see that a red-furred lombax with black stripes and golden-brown eyes, was his opponent. The lombax also had a pair of black stripes under his eyes and he stood in a fighting stance. "Huh, never seen anything like you before. Then again, you neve know what this world holds. Anyways, that doesn't matter..."

Again, the Announcer's voice pierced the air, "Fight until one of you is unable to continue. Whether that means getting pinned, being knocked unconscious, or killed, it does not matter here. Good luck!"

"I'm not fighting," Sly stated as he stood up. "I won't."

His opponent didn't listen and charged him, yelling as he did so.

Sly ducked a few punches and evaded a kick, "I don't want to fight you!"

"You better fight back or else we'll both die!" The lombax responded as he threw another punch.

Sly caught his punch with the palm of his hand, his Bonded strength gave him an edge, "What?"

The lombax growled and swung with his other hand, it too was caught by Sly's other and as well. "You heard me, if we don't fight, they kill us both!" At that he tried to headbutt Sly.

However, both of the lombax's hands were crossed and Sly simply turned his hands like he was turning a steering wheel.

The lombax yelped as he was flipped sideways, his shoulder hitting the ground and he was dazed from the motion.

Sly, still holding his fists, put his foot on the lombax's throat.

Sly's opponent gasped and tried to kick free but couldn't. Once it became apparent he was pinned, a bell rang out and Sly was told by the announcer that he had won.

Sly released the lombax and helped him up.

The red-furred bax groaned and rubbed his throat. "Not bad, gotta learn that move, I'm Snake."

Sly nodded and shook his hand, "I'm Sly."

"Round Two!" The Announcer called out.

Sly rubbed his face.

"Get used to it," Snake advised as he got into his fighting stance, "They love beating the crap out of us."

"Seeing who runs this place, I don't doubt it." Sly responded with a growl as he got ready to fight Snake again.

Snake yelled and charged Sly again, though this time he looked like he was being a bit more tactful. He threw a low kick and some short, but quick punches.

Sly blocked the kick and was hit by a few of the punches. Despite being a Bonded, and the blows doing less damage than they would have done to a normal person, they still hurt. Sly responded by punching Snake in the side, quickly getting behind him, and kicking him in the lower back.

Snake yelped as he was flung forward. The hit was definitely pulled, still, the ground wasn't all that forgiving on him as he got a bloody nose. He quickly jumped to his feet and did a fast round-kick.

Sly though, was faster and caught his leg. He then threw his opponent and sent him tumbling on the ground.

Still, the red-furred lombax got to his feet. He looked pretty banged-up as he held his hands up.

"Give up!" Sly shouted, "I don't want to fight!"

"I can't give up and I don't give up..." Snake charged Sly for the third time.

However, Sly had, had enough at this point and Snake's worn state made it easy. He ducked a swing from Snake and landed a solid hit to Snake's solar plexus with his elbow.

Snake gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and he felt sick. He doubled-over and Sly gently but firmly pushed him to the ground with his foot.

"Good fight," Sly said as he was declared the winner. He then bent down and helped Snake to his feet. "Usually un-enhanced people can't land a single hit. You landed more than a few."

Snake chuckled lightly, "Thanks, ugh, I hate getting hit there though..."

"Sorry, wanted to end the fight."

"I know," Snake groaned as some guards approached them. They escorted Snake and Sly to some benches where a medic began to look them over.

As they were being looked over, they watched a few of the other matches. The two other matches didn't have anyone Sly recognized in them. One match featured a pair of humans and they were both bloody and bruised badly. It looked like the match was going to be a tie. The other had a human versus a lombax. The lombax looked quite large, he was much taller than the average-height human and was thick with muscle. He was at least twice the size of his opponent and was easily winning.

The blood and violence of each fight both disgusted Sly and infuriated him. The fact that their enemy, the one that had killed one of his best friends, was now using them as pawns in his twisted games. How to get out? How to get out of this insanity?

However, as he pondered the situation, something else quickly caught Sly's eye. He saw Torz being led into the cage he and Snake had just fought in.

Despite the situation, Torz still had that same, slightly-bored look on his face. It was then Sly noticed how unimpressive Torz was physically. He was only about a half-a-foot taller than Ratchet and yet looked a bit thinner. _Odd for a Bonded to be so thin. I mean I'm not ripped or anything, but I got some muscle. Torz looks like he hasn't eaten for a while..._

Torz stood in the ring, his jumpsuit looking a bit baggy as he rubbed the back of his neck and waited for his opponent.

His opponent was a a rather big (though not as big as lombax from earlier) and rough-looking human male. The tattoos on his body made him easily recognizable as a member of a gang. It was also obvious that this guy wasn't the average prisoner either, he looked more like a willing participant.

The rough man looked at Torz and raised an eyebrow. "This is who you send out? I could use this runt as a toothpick!"

"That guy's dead," Snake remarked about Torz.

"Tell me, how many beatings did your father give you each day? Four, five times? Make you feel like nothing..." Torz said without changing his expression.

The man looked more than a bit taken aback by Torz, "Wha?"

"'The healthy man does not torture others. Generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers." Carl Jung." Torz responded.

The man growled and charged him.

The next thing the guy knew, he was lying on the ground. Torz stood over him; with his hands held out and his fingers in a slightly hooked position.

To those watching, Torz had blocked the guy's swing with one arm, then rapidly and repeatedly hit his opponent in the front and sides of his head. The blows were less heavy and hard than they were fast and overwhelming. The guy simply couldn't get a millisecond to think or respond, he was so dazed. Once he was stunned, Torz turned, then grasped the underside of the guy's chin with his fingers. His palm was almost touching the guy's nose as Torz lifted and the guy started to bend backwards. The movement was quick and Torz's opponent fell on his back.

Torz looked down at him with a lightly curious look before putting his hand around the man's throat. He squeezed, gently, precisely, cutting off the carotid just for a few seconds. It was just long enough for him to pass out and Torz released him. He stepped back as the guards came and took them away.

Snake watched with an impressed look. "A bit sissy but not bad."

"He's fast and isn't as weak as I thought." Sly said, "And that wasn't sissy, it was smart."

"He slapped the guy around, didn't see him pull any real punches." Snake remarked, "It wasn't bad, just a bit weak for my taste."

"Your taste is charging in with brute strength," Torz said as he walked by. "It seems to do you good." Though his voice still held that bored tone, there was just a hint of sarcasm in it.

Snake growled lightly.

"Don't take it personal, he's kinda blunt..." Sly said right before the guards began to take them back to their cells.

Snake nodded, "See you around."

Once back in his cell with Ratchet, Sly sat on the edge of his bed. "Well those fights are no picnic."

"This reminds me too much of Dreadzone," Ratchet sighed. "Thought I was done being a gladiator."

"Think I made a friend at least. Someone eho's been in here for a bit it seems."

"What's their name?"

"He goes by Snake, not sure what his real name is."

Ratchet perked up a bit, "Red fur? Black stripes with a stripe under each eye? Golden-brown eyes?"

Sly looked up, "Know him?"

Ratchet chuckled, "I'll be, yeah I know him. He's part of a gang I met a while ago." He then sighed, "I hope they're okay, hope they aren't all here..."

"Well, I only saw him, and he seemed to be alone."

Ratchet nodded, "Guess I'll run into him and/or the others at some point."

"We need to work out a plan on getting out of here," Sly whispered.

"Whenever it's meal time, if they let us out of these cells to eat that is, we can meet up with the others and figure a way out."

"Sounds like a plan," Sly said as he laid down in his bed.

* * *

Bane watched as Torz was escorted back into his cell. "Looks like you fought well."

Torz simply sat/crouched in a chair, "It was a test run. They're making us each fight at least once, maybe twice to gauge how we fight. Once they figure that out, then they will make us fight for longer."

"If I did not have this blasted collar on I would easily tear this place, and those that own it, to shreds..."

"Seeing how that isn't an option at the moment, I think it better to focus on what we can do."

"Which is what?"

Torz looked up, "Be patient. We don't know enough to make a move yet. Hopefully they will let us out of these cells to go eat and maybe we can make some friends. Either way, we have to wait..."

"I suppose so." Bane said with a less-than-happy tone.

"Beware the fury of a patient man." Torz responded.

* * *

Garth and Kyle both coughed a bit as they fled from the Inn. They were furthest away from the knock-out gas and managed to escape before being affected.

"They got them..." Kyle said, in a bit of shock about how fast it had happened.

"Did you see the source of that knock-out spray?"

Kyle shook his head, "No."

"I saw it start to appear around that lombax you all found. You know, the one with the silver eyes?"

Kyle groaned, "Of course, the Roths had our attention and he infiltrated us. What about the Ekon siblings?"

"I know I saw Mache and Tyra outside. I don't know about Kenovo..."

"What do we do now?"

Garth started to lead Kyle towards Velocity. "I do have one idea. If Shade wants to make Weiss do anything, he'd need leverage."

"What could he use?"

"She would only have one, Raz."

"Raz? What's that?"

"Not what, who, Raz is Weiss' first "project" but she considers him her son just like project Bane. However, Raz had some issues in his mental development and suffered some brain damage. Weiss was ordered to..."

"Wait one second, how do you know all of this?"

Garth sighed, "Because... Weiss and I were... involved..."

Kyle thought for a second, "You and her... does that mean Raz and Bane?"

Garth simply nodded. "We must get to Raz."

* * *

_Whatcha guys think?_

_Also this where I tie-in Alter with EvilRatchet96's story, Lost in the Ages. If you have not read it, I heavily recommend you do._

_If you have any ideas or thoughts, you can leave a review or shoot me a message._

_As always, stay tuned for more!_

_Isaiah 40:31_

_But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint._


	29. Chapter 28, Fighter's Rache

_Hey guys, sorry for the delay, I was visiting family in Florida for a little more than a week. Then I've been working my butt off trying to get ready for my move back to Florida at the end of the month._

_Anyways, the story is still going and I am working on Ebony as well._

_Once things get more settled, my outflow of content will be more steady._

_Gandhi said, "Better to be violent if there's violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence."_

* * *

Chapter 28, Fighter's Rache

* * *

Garth and Kyle made their way to a house near Velocity. It looked quite old and run down. The paint was faded, any metal exposed to the outside was rusted, there were holes in the roof and walls.

"This your place?" Kyle asked.

Garth nodded, "One of my many safe houses."

Kyle raised a brow at the dilapidated state of the house, "You have a ride here?"

"Yes, I have an Atmo, though it'll need work done to make it worthy of flight."

"Good thing I'm good with Atmos, let me guess, this place is more than it looks?" The former Attero member said as they entered the old shack. There were some piles or crimson dirt on the floor, indicating collapsed sections of the roof.

Garth smirked, "Your reputation is certainly earned, you are not dumb." He tapped on two wood panels and one of them slid up, revealing a keypad.

"Thanks," Kyle responded as Garth typed in the code. Upon entering the code, a panel in the floor lifted up to reveal a passageway. It lit up as it was revealed, the walls were wood-paneled and there was a dark red carpet. Elegant-looking lights made of bronze cast a warm, yellow glow as they entered the passage and the door closed behind them.

"So where is Raz?" the younger lombax asked as they strode down the hall.

"In a city that no one knows about."

"There's a third city?"

Garth led Kyle into a door on the right and flicked on a light. The room was big, and obviously a garage of some kind. In the center of the room was the Atmo, Garth had spoken about. It was just a grade above a pile of junk from the scrapyard. Still, Kyle had seen and worked with worse.

"Whose was this?"

"A friend of mine sold it to me for almost nothing," Garth said, "I did some work on it but have been a bit busy as of late."

"Have you got all the parts needed?"

"All of the essential parts, some superficial parts I can get."

Kyle nodded and began to inspect the ship. "This will take a good day or two... one day if we work together. How far is the city?"

"By Atmo, about five hours."

"That far? Well that explains how they haven't been found."

"Yeah," Garth showed Kyle around the underground hideout. There was a stocked kitchen, two, small bedrooms, a small recreational room, and a supply closet. While small, the lighting and coloration of the place made it feel warm and cozy.

"Not bad, a bit tight but at least it's comfortable." The younger lombax stretched a bit, "Well, might as well get started on this pile of junk."

* * *

It was the next day and everyone was doing as well as could be expected. Breakfast was being served and everyone in their cell block was led to the mess hall. The walls were all painted in a depressing, dark, pale blue color.

Ratchet looked around and smiled lightly as he saw Snake and his companion, the big lombax Sly and Torz had seen earlier, sitting with him. He left the line he was in and ran over to them. "Snake! Brick!"

Snake smiled and embraced Ratchet, "Ratchet! What are you doing here?"

"Long story," He said and yelped lightly as Brick hugged both of them in his massive arms.

"Oi tought 'e would never see ya again!"

Ratchet chuckled, "Me too big guy. Where's the rest of the gang?"

Snake sighed as Brick let them go. "E don't know... only me an' Snake were grabbed."

"Well, how about you join us?"

"Us?" Snake asked.

Ratchet motioned to the others in the food line, "I made some friends. We also know what's going on..."

"Who's running this place?" Snake asked, "We were just minding our business when I passed out and woke up here. Didn't know you guys still did this kind of thing."

"We don't, this is not legal and most people don't know about this place."

"Well that's just great," Snake responded.

Brick shrugged, "Not loike anyone 'ere es much of a challenge anyways."

"Not many people are the size of a mountain like you Brick." Ratchet chuckled, "Come on, the others will like you two."

Snake and Brick agreed to sit with them and they all got their food. They acclimated well with the others and were filled in on the situation.

"How did your business with the king go?" Ratchet asked as they finished up their sorry breakfast.

"E' can discuss dat once 'e're outta 'ere," Brick responded and sipped his drink. "Et's a long story."

"Fair enough..." Ratchet was interrupted by a loud buzzer that indicated breakfast was over. "Great... guess we'll just have to see who's fighting today."

* * *

Kyle pushed himself out from the underside of the vehicle. He was covered in oil, dust, sweat and grime. "Well that was a mess... At least the hardest part is over."

Garth climbed out from the engine in the rear of the ship and was just as dirty as Kyle. "I'd say a couple more hours of work and this will be ready to fly... I think we both need to get some rest though, want a drink?"

Kyle stretched a bit and groaned from the motion, "Sure, whatcha got?"

"I have something called Venom, it's a type of Whiskey."

"Never heard of it, who makes it?"

"Some friends of mine, it's new."

"Sure, I'm game to try new drink." Kyle said as he rubbed his face with a towel. "Then I'm getting a shower and hitting the sack... so what's the name of this other city?"

"DeSoto, it's a human city built into a cliff and is older than Velocity and New Elko."

As the duo left the garage and headed for the small bar in the entertainment room. As they walked, Kyle asked, "Interesting, so is there anything I need to know about DeSoto?"

Garth poured their drinks. The Venom drink was black with dark blue/purple swirls, the ice-cubes spun around in the drink as Kyle picked it up.

"Well this is quite interesting," Kyle said as he sniffed it. It had the strong scent of alcohol with the smell of various, unknown berries mixed with it. He sipped it and smiled a bit, "Not bad!"

Garth chuckled as he downed his own, "Isn't it?"

"Where in the city is Raz?"

Garth set his glass down, "He's in the care of a clinic..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, well better go get some rest. We'll need it tomorrow."

* * *

Sly groaned as he was called to fight. Two armed guards came and forced him to come with them. Sly grunted as he was shoved into the caged ring and looked around. He was puzzled as he didn't see an opponent.

His puzzlement quickly faded and Sly's face contorted into a look of anger as Shade approached the ring. "Finally stop being a coward and come to face me?!" Sly snarled.

Shade smirked lightly and it just made Sly angrier. "I figured I'd give you a shot. Besides, I need the practice."

"Practice?! You killed my friend!"

"And? People die, it's what they do, nothing personal." The tone of Shade's voice held a bit of bemusement. "Now, come on, you're boring me."

Sly growled and charged him fast, he called on his enhanced Bonded strength and speed as he started his attack. He swung a multitude of swift and hard blows at Shade's head and torso.

Though Shade wasn't quite as strong as Sly, he did have greater speed and agility and combat knowledge. He dodged or blocked all of Sly's blows until he managed to catch one of them. He then hoisted and threw Sly against the bars of the ring.

Sly yelped lightly as the throw wasn't weak. Still his enhancements made sure there wasn't any real damage, he just wished that he didn't have that stupid collar on. Upon impact with the ground, Sly rolled onto his feet and threw a kick with the added momentum. Continuing with the momentum, Sly also threw an elbow, followed by a punch rapidly.

Shade blocked Sly's kick with his leg before ducking both of his blows. He then threw a knee into Sly's stomach before punching him in the side of his head.

Sly spun from the hit to the head and fell to the ground. Dark grey blood began to drizzle from his nose as he tried to get up. The blow dazed him badly and as he shakily stood; he saw Carmelita and most of the others in the group in the crowd of spectators. Carmelita's expression was an intense mixture of emotions, holding a good deal of determination and anger, with hints of anxiety and worry tossed into it.

Shade stood back for a second, it was obvious he was just toying with Sly.

Carmelita's look filled the raccoon Bonded with a fierce intensity and longing to beat his adversary.

Sly heard something sliding across the ground and looked up. He saw his cane on the ground. He quickly grabbed it and stood up with more vigor. He saw Shade also held his pair of Sai.

"I figured we'd bend the rules a bit and try our weapons." Shade twirled his sai with a smirk. The white energy surrounding the blades of his weapons sizzled and cracked in the air.

Sly grinned a bit, as his staff had more reach. He spun and twirled his staff around his body and threw a multitude of strikes from both ends of his staff. The loud clang of metal on metal rang out and sparks flew from the intense exchange of blows and blocks. Both Shade and Sly employed highly acrobatic and agile moves as hard blows hit their weapons.

Sly was kicking off of the bars of the ring and twirled his cane all around himself. He had to think very quickly, despite the short range of Shade's sai, Sly had to keep track of the two blades. He also had to be careful, as Shade's sai were quite capable of grappling his cane and disarming him.

On Shade's part, he had dual weapons, but Sly's cane was longer and afforded him a greater reach. As such, Shade had to be more agile and nimble to try and close the distance.

Sly fought to keep Shade back so he could avoid Shade's sai and tried to land a hard blow. His anger and rage fed him with energy and drive. It also made him a bit careless as he got nicked on his arms quite a bit. Each blow was hard and shook Sly a bit, though he returned the blows with equal force.

After their furious exchange, Shade and Sly's weapons locked. The energy surrounding the blades of Shade's sai crackled against the energy resistant metal on Sly's staff. Sly snarled at his foe, he gave a death glare. His glowing, red eyes burned into Shade's glowing, icy white eyes.

It happened nearly instantly, Shade quickly twisted and yanked. The shaft of Sly's cane got caught in the prongs of Shade's sai and it was pulled from Sly's grasp. Sly yelped as he was kicked back and his cane slid underneath the gap of the cage.

Sly growled at the loss of his weapon and eyed his enemy, waiting for him to make his move.

Shade simply nodded slowly and put his sai away. "I'd hate for this to be too easy. Like your big friend was..."

Sly lost it, he yelled in a pure rage as he threw a flurry of various strikes; elbows, knees, punches, and kicks. In his fury, he also tried to grapple or throw Shade. His wrath greatly boosted his speed and agility.

However, Shade knew that Sly was being controlled by his rage and that's what he wanted. He however was not clouded by such things and thus kept his precision and focus. He quickly evaded or blocked each of Sly's blows. Though, he even had to backtrack for a bit due to the ferocity of Sly's attacks.

Sly, in his rage, accidentally allowed an opening for a split-second and Shade threw a fast and hard blow to Sly's neck.

Sly gagged and coughed hard from the blow. He held his neck and was thoroughly stunned. He yelped hoarsely Shade blasted his ribs rapidly; Shade's fists fired like a machine gun. Sly was too dazed from the throat hit that he was unable to block most of Shade's blows. The rapid blows were finished with an elbow into Sly's jaw.

Sly yelled as his jaw was broken and he was bordering on the fringe of unconsciousness.

"You know for a Bonded, I expected more. Sure you have strength, but you were clouded by your fury." Shade pressed the sole of his boot on Sly's temple, making his damaged jaw hurt even more. His tone was alarmingly cold and distant, lacking any form of rage or anger. "I'd kill you, right here, right now, in front of your lover and your friends without a second thought..." He pressed a bit harder making Sly whimper and yelp in pain. "...however, this was too easy. I'd like my challengers to be more interesting." He removed his boot from Sly's head and nodded to some guards. "Next time, I won't be so easy." He said as Sly was dragged out and he exited.

Shade looked up at Carmelita and the others, "I sincerely hope, for your sake, he wasn't the best you all have."

Six growled, obviously he had, had enough of this. "Shut your mouth you monster! At least he has heart! And I can't wait to rip yours!"

Shade simply smirked and chuckled, bemused by Six. "Well, I have someone who is far more interested in tearing you up and, what a coincidence, you'll be fighting him in just a few minutes." Shade's tone slick with mocking sarcasm and nodded to the opposite side of the arena.

Six looked up and saw the older man of the three that attacked them, Samuel Roth.

* * *

Garth sat in the cockpit and was turning on the startup dial. The old craft sputtered as Kyle tweaked with the engine. They had been working on the craft for a good three hours.

"Again!" Kyle shouted, half-buried in the mechanics of the ship.

Garth turned the dial and it coughed a bit before the engine fired and started to purr. "There we go! We're off!" He pressed a few more buttons and got the settings ready as Kyle jumped into the craft.

"Man this thing was a wreck, but hey, it's running!" Kyle said as he wiped his face free of the grime with a towel.

"That it is, heading to DeSoto..."

A few hours into the flight and Kyle looked at Garth. "So... how'd you get to be so... well-known? I mean how'd you rise to this position?"

"Well, it's kind of a rags to riches tale... Here's the best way I can put the start of my life..." Garth set the craft on autopilot before he tapped on a small device for a few seconds and summoned guitar. Music began to play from the device and Garth began to play, _Circle of Steel_.

"Rows of lights in a circle of steel, Where you place your bets on a great big wheel, High windows flickerin' down through the snow, A time you know, Sights and sounds of the people goin' 'round, Everybody's in step with the season!...

...A child is born to a welfare case, Where the rats run around like they own the place, The room is chilly, the building is old, That's how it goes, The doctor's found on his welfare round, And he comes and he leaves on the double...

...Deck The Halls was the song they played, In the flat next door where they shout all day, She tips her gin bottle back till it's gone  
The child is strong ,A week, a day, they will take it away, For they know about all her bad habits...

...Christmas dawns and the snow lets up, And the sun hits the handle of her heirloom cup, She hides her face in her hands for a while, Says look here child, Your father's pride was his means to provide, And he's servin' three years for that reason...

...Rows of lights in a circle of steel, Where you place your bets on a great big wheel, High windows flickerin' down through the snow, A time you know, Sights and sounds of the people goin' 'round, Everybody's in step with the season..."

Kyle sighed, "Not much of a family life huh?"

"I bounced from orphanages to foster homes. I didn't settle down to a place till I was around twelve. It was a good family and I had a nice life then."

"How'd you get here?"

Garth sighed, "Basically, by accident. My lover at the time got into some trouble... and when it was all said and done, she left me. After I destroyed the organization that caused our trouble and took their resources for my own, and having a knowledge of the street, I made my way. How about you kid? You're relatively young to be in this position."

Kyle looked out the window. "Desperation got me started. I joined the Attero to get off the street. Turned out I was very good at my job as a leader and excelled."

"What happened to your family?"

"My father was a Guard killed in the line of duty, my mom died from Black Blood. I tried to go live with my Aunt and Uncle, but they were killed somehow as well. I don't know what happened to my cousins."

"I'm sorry," Garth did pat Kyle on the shoulder. "I want a better life for Raz, which is why I sent him to this city. And I hoped to keep him out of this... but we have to go and make sure he's okay..." He sighed.

"He'll be fine, we'll be there in just a bit."

* * *

After his fight with Sly, Shade made his way back to the lab Weiss was working in. She was looking at a computer screen and was typing on a keyboard.

"How's the progress?"

Weiss looked up, "Vause is developing well. A fully-formed baby will be finished in about a week. I have engineered his chromosomes so that he will quickly grow to a physical age of nineteen in about two years."

Shade nodded, "Good, once he's a toddler, I will release you and you can be with Raz."

"So in about... three weeks?"

Shade nodded again.

"I want to see him."

"I will have that set up. Good work," At that, he left the lab and got on his communicator. "Yes, how close are you? ...Oh you hitched a ride huh?" He grinned a bit, "They don't know about you? Excellent, this evening? Good, nice job," He hung up and smirked.

* * *

Roth growled as he faced off against Six in the same caged arena Shade fought Sly. "I'm going to beat your tail you bax."

Ratchet, Kaden, Michelle, and Lance all were forced to watch the fight.

Six saw them and snarled back, "you monsters deserve to be skinned!"

"I'll wear you for a coat!" Roth yelled and charged Six.

Six also charged and roared back. He ducked a swing from Roth and speared him. They both went to the ground and Six was on top.

Roth kicked/pushed Six off since Roth was bigger.

Six yelped as he was pushed back. He landed on his back and rolled once onto his feet.

Roth leapt back onto his feet and they both circled each other a bit. They were like two feral animals looking to tear each other's throats out; they both glared and growled.

Roth's scarred face was twisted into one of intense, focused rage as he charged and threw a flurry of punches.

Six blocked most of the blows but a few blows got through and he was given a bloody nose. He had to take a few steps back to deal with Roth's rage. Once Roth started to tire a bit, he unleashed his pent-up anger and threw back just as hard. Despite his shorter stature, he managed to land a few good blows to Roth's ribs and one to his head.

Roth managed to land an elbow to Six's cheek, knocking him down.

In return, Six threw a strike to the side of Roth's thigh, striking a nerve.

Roth yelped as his leg gave way and he too fell.

By this point, both of them looked quite bruised and bloody. Their knuckles and arms raw and purple from the exchange of blows. Six had a black eye while Roth had a busted lip.

As they were both on the ground, Six climbed onto Roth and started to throw heavy blows. He managed to hit Roth in the head four times, Roth's nose was broken before he threw a very heavy punch to Six's temple.

Six yelped and was knocked back. He grunted as he landed and was breathing quite heavily. Both he and Roth stopped fighting for a bit, their blood was smeared on the ground and both of them looked like pieces of meat on a slab.

Guards came into the ring and began to drag them both out of the ring.

Lance whimpered and hugged Michelle, "I-Is he okay?"

Michelle rubbed his head, "I know that looked rough, but he's tough... he gave that bad guy a good beating."

* * *

_What do you guys think of the fights? Of Vause? Of Garth and Kyle?_

_Let me know what you think, and I am open to any thoughts or ideas you all may have of where this story might go!_

_Thanks for readying and stay tuned!_


	30. Chapter 29, Secrets, Searches and Fights

_Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. In the process of moving and have been very busy._

_Thanks for reading and hope you have fun!_

_Gandhi also said, "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary. The evil it does is permanent."_

* * *

Chapter 29, Secrets, Searches, and Fights.

* * *

After his fight with Sly, Shade made his way back to his cavern, where his real agenda was hid. He was carrying a supply of food and other materials. As he approached it, many more voices called out to him than before and many more glowing eyes watched him as he unloaded the supplies.

"Just a bit longer, we don't have quite the numbers yet, but we will." He said once he finished unloading the food.

Multiple voices hissed, cackled, and/or groaned at the news.

"This cave is too small for us!"

"Yes! Tired of being hidden!"

"We want to go out now!"

The voices all clamored and grew in excitement with each passing second.

Shade sighed right before his whole body turned into the same black energy he controlled. It swirled and crackled and looked like his whole form contained a raging storm of energy as dark as night. His eyes glowed red and white and large wings made of energy extended from his back/sides and he roared. The roar was near deafening and wild. It beheld a deep intensity that demanded attention and let those that heard it, to pay its owner full respect.

Needless to say, the cave went quiet when Shade finished and returned to normal. His voice calm and collected, but held a sternness that made those around him not dare to speak out in defiance.

"You will not move until the timing is right, until I say so. Go at the wrong time and it would mean our doom. Do you understand?"

Reluctant and fearful cries of agreement rang out and Shade nodded.

"Good, besides, it is not too far off and there is still plenty of space for more." He thought for a second, "If you can stay away from the big cities, you may go and recruit others from smaller towns and only at night."

Little peeps of excitement echoed as more of them understood and excitement at the prospect of being able to move freely built up inside them.

"That's much better!"

"We like the night anyways!"

Shade motioned for them to calm down and they did. "Don't take whole towns, just a few here and there. We cannot afford that kind of attention."

Again, calls of agreement came forth and Shade grinned just in the slightest.

"Good, now I have business I need to attend to. Do as I say and in a short time, you will have full freedom."

Some cheers of joy and promises of obedience rang as Shade left them in the cave.

* * *

Sly groaned as he lay in the medical ward of the prison. He was broken and beaten, they gave him just enough pain meds to keep him from going into shock. That meant he was still in great pain as he lay there, looking at the roof, trying to recuperate.

What was more broken than his body, was his spirit. Sly felt totally shattered by his humiliating defeat at the hand of this enemy. An enemy that had taken the life of one of his best friends and he was beaten down by him. Emotions swirled around his mind like a raging typhoon. He looked over and saw Kenovo in his lombax form. He was laying in what looked to be some kind of cryo-tube or medical pod that kept him in a deep sleep.

Across the room from him lay Six, who was just as badly bashed and torn up. He was sleeping, probably for the best considering how much pain he was probably in.

Sly looked back up at the ceiling and sighed, feeling a heavy amount of pain and despair laying on him. He wanted so bad to believe that they could get out that horrid place. He wanted to make sure Carmelita and his friends were safe, that they would be able to defeat Shade and stop whatever he had planned. His body at that time said otherwise and it was overwhelming him.

* * *

Given some enhanced medicine, Sly and Six healed quickly over the course of two days and were released back on the third. During those days, the others were sitting in their cells or fighting in the arena. Due to the high skill level of the group; most of the time they either walked away without a scratch or only light injuries.

One of the more memorable fights occurred between Torz, and Ratchet's old friend, the big lombax known as Brick.

They were the complete opposites physically and this became especially apparent as they faced off in the ring.

Torz wore his prison uniform loosely and refused to wear his shoes. His gaunt frame almost made him a pitiful display, but his previous fights that said otherwise. He stood there with his hands in his pockets and was slouching just a bit, still having that lightly-bored look he always seemed to have.

Brick however stood in stark contrast and this contrast was perhaps they were selected. Brick towered over Torz by a good feet and most of his body was layered in muscle. He looked like a veritable, walking tank of a lombax. His prison uniform was reduced to a pair of shorts, as any movement with his torso tended to shred the uniform's upper section.

Brick had been in the prison longer and was well-established as one of those not to be messed with. While Torz was gaining a similar reputation, it was not quite as firmly set as Brick's.

The most of the crowd watching looked intrigued and were placing bets.

"Oi didn't want ta foight anyone from dis group 'a yours." The huge lombax said as he looked down at Torz, "Seeing how Oi 'ave ta, Oi'd rader foight you."

Torz looked up at him nonchalantly. "I really do not care for fighting personally, seeing how we must however..." With one hand, Torz did the "bring it on" motion with his usual bored manner.

Brick raised a brow upon seeing it, he wasn't used to seeing someone that much smaller than him not be scared. It puzzled him and slightly made him a bit irritated as he charged. Even with the mildly annoying provocation, Brick didn't want to seriously hurt Torz. He just wanted to knock him around enough to have him call out. So, he pulled the strike he was throwing at Torz's head.

Brick yelped as he found himself landing on the ground and grunted as his front hit it. He quickly stood back up and saw that Torz was behind him, "What was dat?!"

"Oh I simply evaded the punch you obviously had restrained, got behind you, and kicked you in the back, sending you across the floor."

"How did ya move so fast?!"

"You think I am weak when I merely just look weak, but being Bonded, I am actually quite strong."

Brick's eyes furrowed a bit. "A Bonded? Loike dat monster Reap?!"

"No, not all are like him. Do I look as bad as he?"

Brick looked a bit less ticked but still held some resentment for things done in the past. "Foine, dis just means Oi don't 'ave ta hold back anymore."

"No, you do not..." Torz responded as Brick, once again, charged him.

This time, he was much faster and he threw four, heavy strikes in the same amount of time it took him to throw the last punch.

Torz blocked or ducked them, though it was evident this took more effort on his part.

Brick threw a fifth punch that managed to connect with Torz's jaw.

Even with his enhanced resilience, the blow was quite heavy and lightly stunned Torz very briefly.

This allowed Brick to throw a hard kick into Torz's torso, sending him across and into the cage wall.

Torz bounced off of the bars and landed in the ground-pound position. He looked up and caught Brick's big foot in his hand as he threw another kick. He then grabbed his leg quickly with his other hand and threw Brick against the wall he had been knocked into.

Even with Torz being a Bonded, Brick was still surprised that he was so easily thrown by someone so scrawny. He yelped upon hitting the bars and growled a bit as he jumped up. "Noice..."

Torz shrugged, "If you say so."

Brick yelled and threw a fast and hard uppercut that missed Torz's face by less than a centimeter.

Torz responded by hitting Brick upside the head very quickly. It wasn't weak, but it was obviously not a power strike. More than anything, it kind of stunned the big lombax.

Brick threw a punch that landed on Torz's jaw.

Torz grunted and was knocked back a bit before he threw three, rapid strikes at Brick's head.

Brick yelped as the hits, while not particularly hard, dazed him a bit and he couldn't defend fast enough. This made Brick to begin swinging wildly and his accuracy dropped as more and more hits repeatedly stunned and disoriented him. He quickly got fed up and tried to grab Torz.

Torz struck the inner sides of both of Brick's forearms at the same time, before throwing a strong sidekick to Brick's gut.

Brick yelped as the wind was knocked out of him and he fell on his back. He gasped and groaned as he stood back up. "You'll pay fer dat!"

"I am getting tired of this," Torz said with disdain.

"Oi'm not!" Brick shouted as he charged and tried to body-slam Torz.

Torz waited until Brick was nearly upon him before quickly under and around the beast of a bax. As Brick continued to move, Torz sprung up and hit him in the back of the neck. The blow sent Brick into unconsciousness and tumbled to the ground.

Torz stood over him. "Well I am..." He retorted as guards came and retrieved them both. Cries from the stands rang out as those that bet on Brick paid up.

Once Torz was put back in his cell, he retrieved a small device from a small slit in his mattress. He looked around to make sure no guards were around before he activated it.

Bane looked at Torz with a raised brow. "What is that?"

Torz looked up, "Help."

* * *

Two days after Six and Sly were released back to their cells, Ratchet stood across from his father. Looks of reluctance were plastered all over their faces as they got into their fighting stances. They knew they had to fight or else face stiff consequences.

* * *

The day before, Rykk was set to fight Michelle. However, she was pregnant, so he refused to do so. The announcer insisted but Rykk declined again.

Rykk yelped as some guards rushed in and hit him with electrified batons.

Michelle tried to help but one of the guards pulled her away and forced her out of the ring.

The others hit Rykk repeatedly, making him incapable of resisting as they took him away.

Michelle was escorted back to her cell and wondered what they were doing to her friend.

Six also had seen that Rykk had not returned, "What happened?"

Michelle looked up, "Rykk refused to fight me and they took him away."

"Wh-what?" A sense of dread settled upon Six's mind as he contemplated what was going on.

The next day, Rykk was dragged out. His back and torso had a multitude of wounds. He looked like he had been whipped but the wounds were more severe. His blue blood was seeping through the bandages and he groaned.

Six's eyes went wide and he helped Rykk up into his cot. "Those monsters," He snarled a bit and tried to make Rykk comfortable.

* * *

Ratchet sighed, "sorry about this dad..."

"Same here," Kaden responded as he held his fighting stance. "Let's get this over with."

Though they weren't eager to fight each other, both Kaden and Ratchet were very competitive. Neither one wanted to admit defeat and didn't want to hold back.

Father and son both charged each other and they both threw blows. Ratchet's connected with Kaden's chin and Kaden's connected with Ratchet's gut. They both reeled and groaned a bit.

After a second, they charged again and began to exchange punches and blocks rapidly. Kaden's training and experience was his edge but Ratchet had seen a good amount of combat as well and youth was on his side.

Kaden managed to grab Ratchet's arm and threw him against the bars.

Ratchet yelped and kicked Kaden in the jaw.

Kaden groaned and rammed Ratchet into the bars of the cage.

Father and son pummeled each other for a few more minutes. Each of them bloody and bruised up but standing... barely. They staggered and swayed in an unstable manner.

They each tried to get into their fighting stances and resume their fight, when a loud explosion rang out.

* * *

Garth and Kyle groaned as they unloaded off the Atmo. They were less than a mile from the city and Kyle looked at it. The city looked to be carved into the side of a huge cliff. The architecture was alien to Kyle, it looked old, close to ancient even yet had some modern touches in it. Most of the buildings were made out of rock and just a few had wooden roofs. There were also antennas on most of the buildings and other hints of more advanced technology in the city.

"What was the name of this city again?" Kyle asked as they started to walk towards it.

"DeSoto, it's actually older than both Velocity and New Elko. It was founded by an older culture of humans who speak a language called Spanish. Stick with me, do as I say, and we'll be fine."

Kyle nodded, "This will be interesting." He said as they approached the main gate of the city.

The gate was open and Kyle saw that the doors were heavy, thick, and ornate wood and metal doors that had intricate carvings depicting majestic figures and symbols. Kyle looked into the city and saw the main square. The roadways were made of cobblestone and there were humans everywhere. Most men wore broad-brimmed hats, cloth or leather coats, that were black or brown, over a white-cloth shirt along with either boots or some old-fashioned shoes. The average woman wore a dress with some lace and boots and a bonnet or they had their hair in a bun or some other style.

"I feel like a sore thumb... there's no lombaxes here."

Garth chuckled, "Besides you and me, there may be one or two others here but this city is obviously not widely known by the others."

"I kind of figured, you're leading the way."

Garth nodded and started to make his way down the streets, followed by Kyle.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Garth and Kyle, a silver-eyed lombax climbed off the Atmo shortly after they did. He smirked and his body began to morph. The fur faded away and his form became more humanoid. His skin turned blue and his hair became shoulder-length and silver like his eyes. The whites became yellow and his fingers reduced to four. He moved a strand of silver hair from in front of his face. "Glad to be rid of that fur." He looked at the city and groaned a bit, "But I cannot stay myself for long..." At hat he began to morph again and his skin changed color to a human tone and his hair became dark brown. Soon only his silver eyes gave away his inhuman self. He grinned and started to walk towards the city.

* * *

The explosion shook the arena and alarms began to blare. Guards begin to rush around as Mache and Tyra fly in. Hovering in the air along with them were other lombaxes.

Ratchet's eyes went wide, "BRYN! SLICK! SHOOTER! BREACH! LUKA!" He yelled in excitement as Tyra lowered them to the ground with her telekinesis. As they were lowered, they were firing Vector rounds at the guards and exchanging fire. Tyra made cover for them by raising the ground and she sent many of them flying.

Bryn tossed Ratchet a pistol while Breach tossed Kaden a shotgun and they both joined in on the firefight.

Rance landed with them and bounded around the shots very agilely. He was in his full, Occisor garb, complete with his crimson mask with glowing yellow eyes and grey, hooded cloak He summoned his sleeve pistols and shot two guards in the head, and one of them was in the chin. He leapt up onto a balcony and swung himself up onto it. He bolted down it, he shot two more guards and leapt over them. One guard got too close and tried to hit him with a stun baton. Rance hit the guy's wrist, pulled the gun's barrel up to the guard's chin and fired. He leapt over him and shot another in the neck. With a quick flick of the wrist and another quick movement, he reloaded his pistols. He quickly got to the control room of the prison and shot the lock off the door. He rolled into the room and shot two of the three guards tending the room in the leg. Before the third could do anything, Rance had shot him in the forehead and he quickly dispatched the other two in a similar manner. He then quickly unlocked and opened all the cells in the prison before making his way to the infirmary. There, he fired one of his pistols in the air to force out all of the doctors and nurses. He then approached the cryo-tube that held Kenovo and powered it down and the lid lifted.

As Rance went to go free Kenovo and the others, Mache had his weapon drawn, a tri-sectional-staff. It was like a big nun-chuck but with three sections and they could lock to form a regular staff. He held the two end pieces of the staff like they were a pair of weapons. He was extremely fast and parried Vector rounds in midair. His tri-staff became a blur as he twirled and maneuvered it around his body.

By this time, it was a full-scale riot as prisoners started fighting guards hard. It was closer to a large battle as the two sides clashed, one with better protection and one with more determination.

Brick and Snake were among the hardest fighting.

Brick's huge bulk of muscle helped out a ton as he pummeled, threw, and crushed any guards in his path.

Snake's athleticism made him more agile and he let out a war cry as he stole a guard's stun baton and began to beat back the guards.

Six snarled and helped Rykk up as he was still badly wounded. He pulled out a hand-made shiv and slashed with his free hand any guard that got too close.

Sly's agility and speed helped him dodge and weave his way around and through the crowd. He did less fighting than the others but kept moving.

Torz moved and fought like flowing water and was very smooth.

Bane's brute strength, even when collared, allowed him to easily throw his foes aside or crush them.

A loud roar echoed throughout the prison, it was so loud and incredibly startling that everyone stopped fighting. Deafening thunder cracked as a black lightning bolt came through the hole Mache had formed and the concussive blast of it hitting knocked back those close to the hole. Ratchet, Kaden, Bryn, and Mache yelped and/or grunted as they were pushed and they all looked up.

Shade stood where the lightning bolt was and he had his Sai drawn. "Look at you all ruining our fun."

* * *

_Whatcha all think? Hope you're liking it so far!_

_If you have any ideas or thoughts on this story, shoot me a message._

_Anyways, stay tuned for the next one!_


	31. Chapter 30, Scars of the Mind and Body

_Hey guys, life's been nuts and I'm sorry for the delay, job hunting is a lot of fun... not._

_Anyways, on with the show!_

_"The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind." _

_French writer François de la Rochefoucauld._

* * *

Chapter 30, Scars of the Mind and Body.

* * *

Michelle held onto Lance as she ran through the chaos and carried the scared kit in her arms. She had no idea where she was but she sought out the routes that were less violent; areas where the warring between the guards and the prisoners was less intense. What she had going for her was that the guards didn't seem as concerned about her as compared to the more dangerous prisoners. The chaos made it nearly impossible for her to find her friends, though she yelled their names and looked for her lover.

Lance whimpered and held onto her tightly. While he had been eating better before the prison, and the prison's food was marginally better than the cuisine on the street, he was still quite light. Michelle did her best to try and hide the violence and turmoil going on around them, though he did get more than a few glimpses. While for certain scared of what was going on, living on the streets gave the child a bit of tolerance for what was happening.

After a few minutes of fighting through and weaving around the chaos, Michelle found herself and Lance in the main arena. She most certainly didn't intend to go there and quickly looked for an escape from the bedlam.

A loud roar echoed throughout the prison, it was so loud and incredibly startling that everyone stopped fighting. Michelle and Lance yelped and she tried to hide his face as best she could from the carnage. She looked up as a blast of black lightning came through the roof and struck the center of the arena. She quickly ducked underneath a bleacher for cover and to catch a better glimpse of the room to maybe find someone she knew.

* * *

Ratchet was the closest to Shade and he snarled. "Why are you doing this?!"

Shade gave him a condescending smirk, "How did it feel to be abandoned by your family and grow up as an orphan?"

Ratchet was taken aback a bit by the unexpected question. "What does that have to do with this?!"

"Ratchet! Here!" Slick shouted as he tossed Ratchet his wrench.

Ratchet caught it and growled at Shade.

"How did the loneliness and despair feel every night?" Shade taunted.

"Don't listen to him!" Kaden yelled as he was back further from Shade. "He's trying to get in your head!"

Ratchet kept his eye on Shade, "Your mind-game isn't going to work!" At that, he charged with a yell and swung his wrench quickly. Along with him charged Snake and Luka, the two members of the medieval gang called The Hand both held swords with the edges tipped with energy.

Shade ducked Ratchet's swing and parried Luka and Snake's slashes. As he ducked Ratchet's swing, a black blast of energy shot Ratchet back and he flew into a wall. He crashed to the ground hard and groaned.

Shade became a blur as he parried swings from both Luka and Snake. The duo were extremely quick and skilled, but barely presented a challenge to their attacker.

Bryn quickly found an opening and leapt at Shade, he had a pair of short blades.

Shade leapt up as well and did a split-kick in midair and Luka and Snake yelped as they were blasted back by a pair of black, concussive, energy blasts. He also parried the two short blades of Bryn's. Shade pushed back and threw a pair of quick slashes with his Sai.

Bryn yelped as he was pushed back and parried one slash and dodged the other. He then tried to cut and stab Shade as a counter.

Shade jumped back and flipped as Mache swung his staff and Shade flipped above it. Mid-flip, a small, fast bolt of black energy flew from his hand at Mache.

Mache brought up one end of his staff and blocked the bolt. He then thrust his tri-staff at their foe.

Shade bent over backwards before spinning and kicking the side of Mache's staff.

The big Ekon grunted and quickly whipped the staff around to regain control of the weapon. He swung it around his back and grabbed the other end of his staff.

Breach yelled and fired his Vector shotgun at Shade as he had an opening.

Shade quickly formed a black shield of energy and Breach's rounds were rendered ineffective. He made a quick motion and the shield of energy charged at Breach.

Breach yelped and rolled to the side, evading the blast.

Mache charged Shade, holding the two end sections of his staff like they were a pair of weapons and swung them at Shade.

Shade and Mache began to rapidly exchange blows and blocks. Both of them were masters with their weapons, and though Mache's weapon afforded a better range, Shade's speed and dexterity gave him a good defense. They almost looked like they were dancing but every now and then one of them would land a strike or Shade would manage a small cut on Mache. Their exchange was so fast that no one else in the group could find an opening to jump in. They were each a blur and the strikes came so rapidly, it sounded like a machine gun was going off.

After a few minutes of a rapid and intense exchange, Mache roared and a blast of red flame shot from his body.

Shade grunted as he instantly formed a shield of black energy that took the heat as he was knocked back.

Bryn and Ratchet yelled as they charged Shade and swung their weapons. Bryn had picked up Luka's dropped sword.

Shade leapt up and twisted and spun horizontal to the ground. His body went through the gap between Ratchet's wrench and Bryn's sword. As he did, he held his arms out and slashed at their hands.

Ratchet yelled as the back of his hand was cut open.

Bryn screamed as one of Shade's blades impaled his hand.

Shade then kicked Bryn back, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Ratchet still held onto his wrench and tries to swing it again.

Shade spun to the side and threw an uppercut with his sai.

Ratchet shrieked as Shade's slash made a vertical cut from his cheek, over his eye, to his forehead. He yelled again as Shade jabbed him in the shoulders with his Sai and was lifted up on Shade's blades.

Shade then threw Ratchet aside just in time to lock weapons with Sly and they glared at each other.

Sly's eyes held extreme rage and an intense desire for blood.

* * *

Garth led Kyle down a small back road towards a tall, brick building that had a big, white sign on its front. Kyle couldn't read it as it was in a language that was alien to him. The place looked like an old house that was renovated for some kind of business. He followed Garth up the front steps and waited as Garth knocked on the door.

A second later and an older, human woman opened the door. She smiled and gave Garth a big hug and seemed overjoyed at seeing him. She and Garth started conversing in the alien language and the dialogue seemed quite warm and friendly as she let Garth and Kyle into the building.

The place had a warm and welcoming feel to it. The walls were composed of a brown wood and the floor was a soft, grey carpet and the lighting was a cozy, yellow color. Walking through the front door, Kyle saw a front desk and Garth looked at him, "We need to sign in."

"What is he doing here?" Kyle asked as he signed in.

"You'll see," Garth said as they were led to some stairs. The entrance to the stairs had a locked, metal-barred door. Their guide pulled out a key that was chained to her waistband. She unlocked the door and led them up the stairs. The stairs felt old but not in a creepy way, it had more of a calming effect. Kyle looked around as they were led to a room and the woman knocked on the door.

"Raz? You have visitors," She asked as she opened the door.

Kyle had a deadpanned look and mumbled to himself. "She could speak Basic all this time..."

Garth followed the attendant and Kyle followed him.

The room was brightly colored with soothing hues and various paintings and drawings were hung on the walls. Shelves of various toys and dressers with their drawers hanging open, and their contents were hanging out. A messed-up bed sat in the corner and sitting in the middle of the room, on a big, round rug was a young-adult, male lombax, no older than nineteen. He had shimmering, silver fur with no stripes. His eyes were also silver in color and he was playing with some toy vehicles and "flew" them around. He continued playing, as he had not heard her.

Garth stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey Raz."

Raz looked up and tilted his head a bit, "Hello mister Midnight!" Raz's voice sounded young. Not in its pitch or tone, but in manner.

Kyle raised a brow, "Mister Midnight?"

Garth nodded, "Yeah, that's what Raz calls me." He looked at Raz, "How are you son?"

Raz beamed proudly and stood up and pointed to one of his pictures. It was obviously a very rough painting of Weiss, "I drew mama!"

Garth smiled warmly, "You did! It looks really good!"

"He's our best resident here Mr. Tangent," The attendant added with a smiled.

"Miss Smile is really nice!" Raz responded and giggled like a kid. He then noticed Kyle and gave him a curious look and approached him, "Hello mister..."

Kyle smiled and offered his hand, "I'm Kyle."

"Kyle? I think you're Blue Boss!"

Kyle raised a brow, "Blue Boss? How's that?"

"Your stripes are blue... and you look like a boss." Raz stated as if it were an obvious thing.

"How's that?" Kyle inquired with a curious tone.

Raz simply shrugged, "You just do."

Garth lightly tapped Raz on the shoulder, "Raz, I'm sorry, but we have to go."

Raz looked puzzled upon hearing that, "But today is pudding day Mr. Midnight... and I like pudding..."

"You come with me Raz, and you can have all the pudding you want okay?" Garth smiled reassuringly.

"What about Miss Smile?" Raz asked with a bit of a sad tone. "I like her... she's really nice."

Garth sighed and rubbed his head, "Raz, I hate to take you from your home, but I miss you and mama misses you. And there's some bad men that want you..."

"Bad men?" Raz's eyes went wide, "Where are the bad men?"

"I'm not sure, but we can't stay here..."

Raz yelped and pushed Garth over as the window exploded as the round flew through it.

Kyle yelled as the round hit his forearm and he ducked as blood began to pour.

The nurse yelped and ducked behind a wall.

Garth quickly drew his pistol and saw a figure perched on a wall. He quickly fired back, making the figure duck. Garth scrambled and grabbed Raz by the wrist and ran out, followed closely by Kyle.

Kyle groaned and grasped his wound as blood poured between his fingers. "It's O'Bannon! Ugh! That wasn't Vector!"

Raz yelled as they ran and was obviously scared of the sudden turn of events. "Bad man! Bad man! Bad man!"

The nurse ran ahead of them and opened the barred-door and Garth peeked out a window. "I don't see anything... this way!" He said as he bolted towards the back of the building. The trio of lombaxes ran quickly into a back alley as they felt the ground shake, making them stumble and fall. A glowing, silver tremor weaved through the ground towards them. It ran into a nearby building and screams rang out as the building collapsed. When the tremor reached them, it stopped and a glowing, white/silver humanoid figure appeared from the ground and stood before them. The light faded and a blue-skinned, silver-eyed and haired being stood with a look of malice and insanity.

"Ready to play?"

Raz roared and cut the tips of his fingers with a small razor. His blood began to flow from his fingertips before, to Kyle's amazement, it began to move and formed long claws. Raz bellowed again and lunged at the figure rather quickly.

The Ekon grinned and moved his hand up as if he were doing a melodramatic motion, and a beam of silver and white energy shot from the ground.

Raz leapt around the beam with great agility and threw an intense flurry of slashes and stabs from his blood-claws.

Their attacker jumped back and threw a kick, causing a silver-white beam to shoot from his feet.

Raz ducked it swiftly and slashed at his legs.

The figure growled as Raz gave him a nice pair of cuts on his lower leg and some gold blood drizzled. He roared loudly and kicked Raz in the side, knocking him into the air.

Raz yelled and his blood-claws morphed and turned into tendrils that prevented him from crashing into the ground.

Garth quickly raised his gun and fired rapidly.

The figure held his hand up and the bolts from Garth's gun bounced off his hand. He charged at them but yelled as Raz pounced on him and slashed and cut in a feral manner, making their attacker reel and scramble. He quickly grabbed onto Raz and threw him against a wall, there were multiple cuts and gashes on his body from Raz's attack and roared in a rage. The ground shook and the wind blew like a hurricane.

Garth yelled and threw a hard upper-cut to the figure's jaw.

The Ekon yelped as Garth's hit was far stronger than he anticipated. It actually stunned him quite a bit, that and all the slashes from Raz made him rethink his attack.

Before the figure or the other three could make another move, more than a dozen, armed guards or DeSoto arrived and aimed them at the Ekon.

The Ekon growled deeply and vanished into a silver cloud and flew away, leaving everyone there with stunned looks.

* * *

Sly and Shade seemed to be gazing into each other's souls for a brief, hate-filled second. Sly yelled and shoved him back, he threw a jab with one end of his cane at Shade's torso.

Shade parried it with one of his Sai before he formed a beam of black energy and each end of the beam held onto the handles of his Sai. He effectively made a double-sided spear with his Sai as the blades and the energy formed the shaft. He then threw a similar jab at Sly's torso.

Sly leapt back and swung the hooked end of his cane at Shade's head.

Shade raised the end closest to himself and blocked Sly's swing.

Despite not being quite as proficient or strong as Mache, Sly's speed and rage allowed him to be just as formidable against Shade as Mache. Sly and Shade's rapid exchange of blows was a bit more acrobatic compared to Mache's exchange. Sly leapt, rolled, and dodged in a flexible and impressive manner. Shade kept up quite well and at points seemed to be playing with him. Though Sly managed to keep his focus and not let his rage overcome his mind.

When there was an opening, Mache, Leo, Brick, or one of the others still able to fight threw in a jab, punch, or attack of some kind. However, it was either dodged or parried by Shade.

* * *

As they fought, Six ran over to his brother and looked him over with a very concerned look.

Ratchet's wound was shallow and not life threatening as blood oozed from the cut. He whimpered and groaned in pain. Though his cut went over his eye, Ratchet's eye was untouched, Shade's blade had missed by less than a centimeter.

Six tore off a piece of his uniform and wrapped it around Ratchet's hand and then bandaged the cut on his face in a similar way. He sighed and looked over at Rykk whose back was still torn up. He thought about Michelle and Lance and realized that they were missing and he looked at his brother. He knew that the fight with Shade was above his skill level, especially with the collar on. "I'll be back, have to find Michelle and Lance."

Ratchet groaned, "Find... them... go..."

Six nodded and ran to find them.

* * *

Michelle saw Six run and waved and called out his name.

Six paused and scanned the room until he saw them and bolted over. He embraced Michelle, "Are you two okay?! Are you hurt?!"

Michelle shook her head, "We're fine... but we need to get out of here!"

Lance whimpered and hugged him.

Six looked back over his shoulder at his brother and Rykk and then at the fight going on. "We can't go anywhere with Shade here... we'll just have to wait. But I'll move Rykk and Ratchet back over to where you two were hiding."

Michelle nodded and watched as Six ran over to Ratchet and Rykk and she took Lance back to their hiding place.

Six picked up his brother in his arms and saw Bryn grab one of Rykk's hands and began to drag him. "I'm not much use in this fight anymore... so I'll help you." He said as he followed Six and towed Rykk.

Six nodded and they quickly reached the bleachers. The rest of the Hand followed Bryn and stood watch over the wounded and kept back any guards and unsavory prisoners until the main fight was over.

A few minutes later, Six locked eyes with Roth, who was standing across the stadium. He was glaring at Six with a look of malice and hatred but he didn't move.

Six glared back at him and kept watch.

* * *

"Okay, can we please go back to normal guns and fights?" Kyle remarked smartly, "I'd rather be in a firefight than deal with some magical... thing."

Garth nodded, "Agreed..." was all he could respond with before being approached by the DeSoto city guard. The leader started talking with Garth in their native tongue as people began to run to and fro to help with the damage from the fallen buildings.

Kyle groaned and a guard approached him and began to tend to his wound. The guard spoke to him a bit, but quickly realized Kyle didn't understand him and just kept working. The hurt lombax looked up at Raz, "How'd you do that?"

Raz looked at him curiously, "I've always been able too... mama said so."

"I see, well you were spectacular back there Raz."

Raz beamed a bit at the praise and giggled lightly. "Thank you Blue Boss!"

Kyle chuckled, "Still gotta get used to that nickname."

As Kyle and Garth were being tended to and tending to the guards, they were too busy to notice a silver-eyed guard among them as he approached Raz. He grinned lightly and held up a small device.

* * *

Sly and Shade's duel continued on for a good five minutes until their weapons locked and they glared at each other again. Shade had returned his Sai to normal by this point and he looked just as calm and steady as when he started the fight. However, Sly was definitely looking worn, despite his anger fueling his attacks.

"I'm going to kill you..." Sly said with a coldness that was seldom heard.

"You're fighting against something you don't understand... I think I'll give you a gift..." Shade said before rapidly before twisting his Sai and Sly yelped as his staff was yanked from his grasp and he found himself disarmed. He then screamed as Shade shot dozens of black-lightning bolts into his body and he shot some at Mache, before forming a sphere of black energy around Mache to keep him at bay.

Sly yelled in agony and writhed as the dark lightning coursed through him.

After a minute, Shade cut off the lightning and looked down on Sly as he groaned, "Shall I give you despair?" At that, Shade resumed shocking Sly, slowly increasing the intensity of his black lightning.

On top of feeling like every nerve ending in his body was on fire, Sly felt his heart constantly shift its pulse rate. Just as he felt like his heart was going to explode... it the lightning stopped. He weakly looked up to see what had happened.

Before him stood Kenovo and Bane.

Bane held one arm up and Shade was pinned against a wall by a red, black, and white swirled energy.

Kenovo looked down at Sly, "You are in great pain, but we have him now."

Sly groaned and slowly sat up, his chest was sore. "K-kill him..."

Kenovo studied Shade for a second, "That would be unwise..."

Sly almost jumped up, "Why... not?!"

"Because he has a plan... if we kill him, we may not be able to stop what he is planning."

Sly growled, "He killed my friend..."

"I am not disputing that. I am merely saying we must learn what his plans are."

"Fine..." Sly stated with a bitter tone. "We should go..."

Kenovo nodded and surrounded Shade in a bubble of the alien energy before removing Sly's collar and placing it on Shade.

Shade's face held no emotion as he was collared and cuffed; not even any emotion as Sly got in his face. "You're coming with us... and I will kill you eventually."

"Keep telling yourself that." Shade said as just the slightest smirk crossed his face.

By the time they had Shade restrained, the prison was nearly empty of guards and prisoners. Most of the guards scattered once Shade had arrived.

* * *

Six grinned a bit when he saw Shade get caught and he looked back at where Roth was... he was gone. His eyes narrowed a bit, but his attention was quickly turned back to Shade and those around him.

"Guys, we're getting out of here."

Michelle and Lance both looked extremely relieved along with the Hand. They all began to help the hurt and wounded and headed for the exit.

* * *

Weiss looked up at a big tube filled with a light-blue chemical mixture. Inside the liquid was a rapidly-growing, lombax. He looked to be in his early teens, had pure-white hair and no stripes. Weiss touched the tube, somewhat proud of her work but also sickened by it as well. A huge amount of guilt filled her being as she thought about what her captor would do with him. She was also dying to see her first project, the one she considered her son, well him and Project Bane. She yearned deeply to see them both and make sure they were okay.

* * *

_Think we're getting near the end of Alter, hehe._

_What do you guys think? Let me know._

_Thanks for reading guys! And stay tuned!_


	32. Chapter 31, Questions and Revelations

_Hey guys, so sorry for the delay, life has been hectic. Got sick and have been job-hunting like mad._

_Been stressed out and trying to do my best to write but it's rough._

_Anyways, on with the show!_

_"The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind."_

_François de la Rochefoucauld_

* * *

Chapter 31, Questions and Revelations

* * *

The group took Shade to Velocity and placed him inside a heavily-fortified holding cell. Armed guards surrounded him and he just sat there as he was cuffed to the table. His back was straight and his eyes were closed, like he were meditating.

Sly, Six, Bryn, and Ratchet all looked in at their enemy. Ratchet and Bryn's wounds were patched up and bandages covered them. Ratchet's eye was fine but above and below it were the bandages and Bryn's hand was wrapped in bandages as well.

Sly groaned and felt his heart race a bit, both from the near-electrocution he had and from the rage burning inside of him.

"So what do we do with him?" Ratchet asked.

"Anything we can..." Sly responded bitterly.

"Let me in there," Six stated, "I can get him to talk."

"I would not advise that." Kenovo said as he walked in.

Six raised a brow, "Why not? I know how to hurt him better than most here..."

"Because he is not like what you are used to. I would not doubt that he could get inside your head."

Six scoffed, "I'm too messed up for that." He said as he walked out and entered Shade's holding cell.

Shade's eyes opened and he looked up. "Sending in the beast I see."

Kenovo rubbed his head in light frustration.

"That's right, now tell me what your plan is or I will have to get unpleasant."

"Like you did with those who took your foster parents?"

Six was taken aback a bit by the unexpected question, "U-uh..." He growled a bit before punching Shade in the face.

Shade chuckled a bit, "Hit a nerve did I? Though I do suppose that was rather obvious."

"Shut up! How did you know that?!"

"I got it from you, how you act, talk, dress, everything." Shade said in a manner like he was reading a novel. "Looking at you is like reading a book."

"I am not that simple!"

"Of course you would think that, but you are. You think you're unique? How does it feel? Watching the life drain out of your victims? The smell of blood and the look of pain and torment on them must give you such a rush as though you were on ecstasy!" Shade's expression looked like he was studying Six. "Does it help you forget the pain you got at the loss of your family as a kid? Seeing your loved ones being ripped away and never to be seen again and inflicting that kind of torment on others sure is a thrill isn't it? You serial killers are so predictable, getting a high off of killing while loving the attention it gets. Each one of you thinking you're the worst of the worst, and striving to have your own style... When in reality each of you are either crying infants expressing your rage or living in some psychotic fantasy that is not real! Either way it's sad and pathetic and weak. Do not come here and threaten me just because you think you're nasty and dark when you're just a whiny, egotistical brat throwing a tantrum and just a sliver of morality keeps you from doing it to "innocent" people!" Shade's tone grew more and more intense the longer he spoke.

Six sat back, stunned from Shade's monologue about him. He just sat there for a minute, his mind scrambling to come up with something. The shock of being read so accurately began to be replaced by shame, guilt, and then fear, anger and rage. His expression slowly morphed as each emotion ran through him and he pounced.

However, Sly and Bryn ran in and pulled Six out. The unstable lombax was practically frothing at the mouth in a rage as Sly and Bryn carried him out.

"LET ME IN THERE! I'LL TEAR HIM APART! I'LL BURN EVERY NERVE IN HIS BODY! I'LL BATHE IN HIS BLOOD!"

Sly pinned him against the wall and put his forearm against Six's neck but just pinned. "Calm down! He was baiting you! Getting in your head! He wanted you to freak out!"

Six snarled a bit and tried to struggle but Sly was too strong and kept him still.

Eventually Six's anger cooled off and he stopped fighting.

"Look, it's evident you can't handle him." Bryn stated, his hand wrapped up in a bandage. "I've never seen someone like this, I'm used to fighting people in combat but this is... new."

"It's mindgames," Leo said, "Shade loves to get in your head and mess it up." He looked at Six, "And he just got into yours didn't he?"

Six grunted and growled. "I don't see how..."

"He knows how to get you angry and unfocused, he can play you like a puppet."

"No one can..."

"He just did!" Leo sighed, "Whoever is going to deal with this monster has to be incredibly stable mentally."

"Whatever," Six groaned.

"I'm not fit either," Sly said, "That's pretty obvious... What about Ratchet?"

"He's hurt so I'm not sure he could take it," Bryn said, "I don't think I could take him either... not used to this kind of thing."

"I can try," Luka said, "He's smooth but I'm too tough to let his words affect me. Besides, we need to figure out what he's doing."

"Are you strong enough to handle this guy?"

Luka nodded.

* * *

Weiss sighed as she pulled a lever and the chamber with the developing lombax started to drain. It only took a few minutes before the chamber was drained and she activated a fan that began to gently dry off the young-adult lombax. After a few minutes, she turned off the fan and opened up the tube. She reached in and pulled him out. He had white fur and was unconscious as Weiss lay him on a nearby mattress. She checked his pulse and saw that he was breathing.

Weiss smiled lightly before she took out a syringe and injected it into his arm.

The lombax groaned lightly and began to move a bit. His eyelids shuddered slightly before they opened up. His eyes were like average lombax eyes. The scleras of his eyes were black and the irises glowed white. His pupils were slits that glowed purple, his eyes combined with his white fur gave him an unearthly look.

Still, despite his spectral appearance, Weiss felt an attachment to him like a mother does her child.

"Where... am I? Who... am I?" His voice was deep but smooth and beheld a child-like innocence.

Weiss sighed as she remembered the name she had been told to give him. "It's alright, you're okay, your name is Vause."

The doors of the room slid open and the AI Flint floated into the room. The triangular-shaped device approached them and the holographic avatar appeared on the top of the device. "Excellent job, I received notification that the bio-developmental tube had been opened."

Weiss nodded, "I figured you did."

"Who is that? What's going on?" Vause asked with an understandably confused tone.

Flint continued as if Vause wasn't there. "Now you will proceed to get Vause up to pristine mobility. Once that is complete, you will be reunited with your son."

"What are you going to do with Vause?"

"It is of no concern to you, though you can rest assured we will take good care of him."

"Where's your master?"

"He is currently busy attending to business."

Weiss sighed and stroked the back of Vause's hand.

* * *

Luka walked into Shade's cell and sat down. He didn't say anything and neither did Shade for a bit. They simply looked at each other for a minute.

"Nice show back there, getting under his skin like that," Luka remarked.

Shade nodded lightly, "Thanks, wasn't that hard though."

"I'm not that easy."

"Of course not, after all, I don't expect a former slaver to be as easy as a mentally unstable serial killer."

Luka raised a brow, "This isn't about me, now tell me what you're planning."

"No,"

"You know what people in my former profession are capable of... it would be wise for you not to play games with me. I know many, many ways to make people break. I'm an expert at bending someone's will to my own desires and I will do the same to you."

"Is that what your former master told you?" Shade chuckled as Luka's face hardened slightly. "No mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore."

Luka pulled out a knife and held it up. "I am not doing this, tell me about your plans or I will start cutting you to bits. And you can count on me not getting choked up about it. I'll sleep like a baby tonight..."

"Did you sleep so well the night after you had Bryn branded and made him your slave?" Luka instantly felt a pang of regret at the thought of what he did. Before he could respond however, Shade continued, "You and your brother weren't just slaves, you two were... special and got special attention did you not? That's why your brother is so big, to keep that from ever happening to him again. That's why you all became the very thing you hated as children, that is why you inflicted the exact same pain and torment on others that you went through!"

Luka leapt up and put the edge of his knife against Shade's cheek. "One more word about my past and I'll take an eye!"

Shade looked into Luka's eyes, his pale white-glowing irises encircled the endless darkness of his pupils. They looked like entrances into a cold abyss while Luka's looked like pits of raging fire.

As he gazed into Shade's eyes, Luka felt a shiver go up his spine. Try as much as he could to deny it, the had never dealt with someone so cold and dark before. Luka prided himself with being ruthless towards his foes and unrelenting. He strove to be the coldest and dominate person around. And while rejoining Bryn's gang had tempered his cold pride, he still relished the feeling of being someone no one would mess with. However, looking into those dead, cold abysses was like thrusting an icy blade where his burning rage had been. The flames were put out and replaced with a chilling fear as Luka felt the realization that he was dealing with something unknown to him. That Shade was not intimidated in the least, despite Luka's threat and his position of power.

Luka slowly stepped back and walked out of the room. He put the knife away and held his head.

"What happened?!" Bryn asked as he knelt down.

"Those eyes... those blasted eyes..." Luka murmured, "I was good until I looked into them!"

"Why? You're one of the best at breaking people!" Bryn exclaimed.

"I know!" Luka rubbed his face, "I don't know how to say it... I can usually read a person's spirit when I look in their eyes, but here? I saw nothing! I've looked into the coldest killers' eyes of my time and I could still pick up on something! I've never seen someone this dark and... evil."

Bryn sighed, "Great..."

Everyone looked up as the door to Shade's cell opened and closed.

Leo had ran into Shade's cell and sat down across the table from him.

* * *

Kyle turned back to get Raz so they could go and felt his heart sink.

Raz was gone.

He quickly nudged Garth on the arm, "Where's Raz?"

Both Garth and Kyle looked all around and out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw Raz being carried away on the back of a figure. He growled and drew his gun as he gave chase. Garth was quick to catch on and ran with Kyle down the street.

The duo quickly weaved through the crowd after the figure. It was clear that Raz was unconscious and his kidnapper was quick on his feet. Neither Kyle nor Garth fired their weapons as they ran, for fear of hitting Raz by accident. So they kept running through the weaving, twisted, and old streets.

"He's headed for the city entrance!" Garth shouted and picked up the pace.

Kyle did as well but was quite impressed at how well Garth kept up despite his older age. Though he figured that Garth had been injected with Hammer or given some other kind of physical enhancement.

Though the figure was rapidly getting closer and closer to the city's main gate, Garth and Kyle had nearly closed the distance.

As the figure ran through the entrance, he started to lift into the air.

In a split-second, Garth leapt up and grabbed onto his legs.

Kyle yelped and grabbed onto Garth as they all took off into the air. His eyes went wide as the ground moved away from them.

Garth clung onto the figure's legs, even as he tried to kick them off. Garth grunted as he felt the figure in his grasp morph and its skin became a grayish-blue, revealing to Garth and Kyle that he was an Ekon.

Kyle yelled as he hung onto Garth for dear life.

Garth drew his gun and jammed the barrel into the Ekon's lower back. "I have Alacrity rounds! Now land!"

The Ekon growled, he couldn't risk Raz so he headed for the ground.

"Let... Raz... Go!" Garth growled and pushed the barrel deeper for emphasis.

The Ekon tossed Raz aside and Kyle ran over to him to check him out.

The Ekon quickly spun around and threw a kick at Garth's torso.

Garth yelped as he flew back.

The Ekon swiped the air with his hand and some blue-red bolts of energy flew at Garth.

Garth rolled to the side and strafed him as he fired his gun. Dark blue bolts flew from his revolver until he ducked behind a boulder.

The boulder he was behind lifted up and Garth rolled out of the way as the Ekon tried to crush him with it. "Get out of my business you half-breed filth!" The Ekon shouted.

"I ain't no half-breed!" Garth responded.

The Ekon chuckled lightly, "Oh you do not know?" His chuckle turned into a laugh as he saw Garth's lightly-confused expression. "You are half-Ekon!"

* * *

Weiss was helping Vause move and leading him through various exercises to build his strength. He was growing stronger quite quickly and in the course of a few hours had his full range of motion. He was also quite intelligent, displaying quick learning skills and inquisitiveness.

"What's going on?" He asked as Weiss was moving his legs up and down to help it get stronger.

"I'm helping you get stronger..."

"I know that, but why? What am I?"

Weiss sighed and looked up at him. "You're... my son. At least, you're the closest thing to a son as I'll have..."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you are special Vause... not like most people."

Vause looked at her with a confused expression. "I do not understand, you said you had a son? That machine said you did as well."

"He's like you, not born naturally, he was my first one... his name is Raz and I..." Tears formed in Weiss' eyes. "...I messed up... I got arrogant and frustrated... and it cost him his mental development."

Vause felt a swirl of emotions flow through him. Everything was new and so much information was flowing into his brain that he struggled not to be overwhelmed. His mind scrambled to to form coherent thoughts. This lasted for only a brief few moments though it felt much longer to Vause. That is, until one emotion surfaced upon seeing her in such a state of contrition.

He felt sympathy, the alien sensation ran through his mind.

He didn't know why, but he reached forward and lightly set his hand on her shoulder.

Weiss looked up and wiped her eyes. She looked into Vause's eyes for a bit before she resumed the exercises.

A few hours later, Vause was rapidly gaining strength and his muscles began to grow. It was getting late and she handed Vause a plate of food and sat down with him.

"What is going to happen?" He said as he began to eat.

Weiss knew they were watching and probably listening. Still, after Bane and Raz, she couldn't be dishonest with him. "These people... they have Raz..." Weiss said and held her head. "They told me to... to... to um... make... you."

Vause raised a brow. "Or they'd hurt Raz?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes, "I've done bad things... lied, manipulated people and manipulated people's genes for my and other people's agendas and I deserve punishment for that. I played god when I had no right too... But Raz is innocent. I owe him a life because I took it from him... I don't care what happens to me, but Raz doesn't deserve to suffer any more."

Vause swallowed a bite of food before holding his head in one hand. "So... you made me like... someone makes a machine? Is that all I am?"

"Not to me, no Vause, you aren't..."

He thought for a second before looking at her with a deep, piercing gaze. "Do I have a father?"

Weiss didn't know what to say, all she could muster was, "Kind of."

"Kind of?"

She rubbed her face in a tired fashion, "More like a gene-bank than a father I guess."

"So you don't know him?"

Weiss shook her head, "No, but I'm fairly certain he's not the one that made me do this either."

"My eyes aren't the same as yours, I'm not fully lombax am I?"

Weiss shook her head again, "I get the feeling you'll figure it out once they take you away from me."

"I don't want to leave you mother."

"I know," Weiss took his hand, "I'm so, so sorry..."

Vause looked down, "What do they want me to do?"

"I don't know."

"If they're going to take me from you, I will find my way back to you mother."

Weiss kissed his hand and rubbed it, moments before the door to the room opened.

The door revealed two men that followed the AI Flint. It was Samuel Roth and his surviving son, Amador; they had pleased expressions on their faces when they laid eyes upon Vause.

"Come with us Vause," Samuel chimed, "We'll teach you everything you need to know and take good care of you."

"What about my mother?" Vause asked as he stood up. His pose indicated that he was not thrilled and he lightly flexed his newly-developed muscles to show that they had to be careful with how they answered.

"She will be fine, we will release her soon."

"And my brother? Raz?"

Roth raised a brow, "He will be fine as well. I know you're scared and confused son, that all of this is new to you. Let us help you get your bearings and teach you what you need to know." His tone of voice was calm and soothing, like a father consoling his son. He extended his hand and had a warm expression on his face.

Vause's expression softened and he thought for a bit. He looked down and his eyes twitched as he struggled to process what he should do.

Roth waited patiently to see how Vause would respond.

After a few minutes, Vause reached out and took Roth's hand.

* * *

Leo sat and glared at Shade and Shade returned the expression.

"The two before me don't know you... don't know what you've done or what you are but I do. I know what you are and I know what it is you want. So cut the mind games, they won't work on me and you know it." Leo said with a focused tone.

"Look at you," Shade said with a bit more venom than he had previously. "The only Dragon on this world."

"You killed my mentor and sent our world into an apocalypse."

"No, I was bringing in the next step. Humanity is dangerous and self-destructive... you all need to be replaced."

"What about your half-human side?" Leo replied smartly. "That can't be replaced."

Shade's brow furrowed slightly, "Like your mentor?"

"I'm not talking about that."

"What was it like? Watching him descend into madness?"

"**I said,** we're not talking about it." Leo took a breath and looked at Shade again for a second before getting up and walking out.

"That went well," Bryn said sarcastically.

Leo closed the door, "It actually went a bit better than I thought."

"Better? He didn't tel us anything."

Brick stepped forward, "Let me speak ta em, Oi can pummel em till 'e talks."

Leo shook his head, "He's stronger than you think, and he won't break. What concerns me is that we captured him..."

"Why?" Luka asked, "Isn't good we caught this monster?"

"I've known Shade for years and this is the first time he's been captured."

"I concur," Mache said. "Seeing how he handles himself, I believe he planned this."

"Which means...?" Bryn asked.

"He wants something or is stalling," Kenovo answered.

"You said something about him causing an apocalypse on your world." Luka asked Leo, "What did he do?"

Leo sighed, "He unleashed entities called, Kurai Nami. It means Dark Wave, though we call them Kurai for short, though some people call them Shadows."

"Going to need more than that," Bryn said, "what do they look like? What do they do?"

Rykk sighed, "They are like a disease; they turn people into Kurai and look like demons."

"And they spread really fast," Leo finished.

"How fast?" Luka asked.

"Both cities could fall in a few hours or a day..."

Everyone went silent for a bit.

"Why is he doing this?" Snake asked Leo, "You seem to know more about him than anyone else."

"Because he's half-Kurai."

* * *

Garth looked stunned, "H-how?! My father was a lombax!"

The Ekon chuckled lightly, "One of your parents was an Ekon in disguise! By the way, call me Kura." He grinned maliciously before he spun and flung multiple blue-red lighting bolts at Kyle.

Kyle yelled as the strange lighting coursed and arced through him and he was flung back. He groaned as he rolled in the dirt and lay still.

Garth yelled and charged Kura and threw a punch to his chin.

Kura yelped and growled.

"Thanks for telling me!" Garth snarled and threw a strong uppercut to Kura's jaw. "Now I know I can take you!"

* * *

_T.S. Eliot wrote "Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act, falls the shadow."_

_Hey everyone! Hope you like it so far! Well, seeing how I'm planning on the next chapter to be the final chapter of Alter, I really hope you like it._

_And don't worry, there will be another story to finish this trilogy._

_Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the final chapter of Alter!_


	33. Chapter 32, Fall

_Hey guys, sorry for being so late. Worked on my story Urban, been busy with my new job, been very, very stressed out over a bunch of personal stuff, and wanted to make sure this chapter was very good._

_Hope you all like it and stay tuned for my other stories, Ebony and Informer._

_The sequel to Alter that will probably happen once I wrap up some of those ._

* * *

Chapter 32, Fall

* * *

"He's a monster... why not just end him and be done with it?" Sly asked venomously.

"You don't get it," Leo said with a lightly scared tone. "He probably has a group of Kurai somewhere on this world and if we don't find and kill them, everyone on this world is in danger."

"So how the heck do we find it?" Bryn chimed, "We can barely get two words out of him without him messing with our heads!"

"We need to find his contacts." Sly said with a calmer note in his voice. "It'll take far too long trying to break him but he's too important to just kill as well. The problem is how to find them?"

"He headed up the Attero, we can work our way up to his..." Six said and then paused, "Roth, we need to get our hands on him. Blast it all... where's Garth when you need him?!"

* * *

Kura yelped lightly as Garth's blow to his jaw actually hurt a bit. He growled and back-handed Garth.

Garth yelled and threw a right-hook to Kura's head and then a left one. He then threw a knee to Kura's belly before ducking a few swings from Kura. While he's ducking, he threw rapid strikes to Kura's ribs and sides.

The Ekon growled and threw a knee into Garth's temple, knocking him onto his back.

Kyle groaned as he started to come to and shakily started to move.

Garth grunted and groaned before he found Kura's shin hitting his head. The Informer yelped again as he was sent, spinning, into the air. He landed hard and coughed a bit, groaning and sore.

"Now stay out of this half-breed!" Kura walked over to Raz and picked him up again and flew into the air.

Kyle shakily stood up, "NO! Raz!" With Raz out of his reach, he looked down at Garth and sighed. "He's gone..."

Garth groaned and stretched as he got up. "That's the point. You do what I think you did?"

"Put a tracker on Raz? Yep." _As Kyle pulled the KO'd Raz to safety, he slipped a tracker into the pocket of his white pants._

"I got one on Kura too, while we were fighting." _When he was rapidly striking Kura's torso, Garth quickly shoved a sub-dermal tracking device into Kura's skin. He disguised doing so as a punch, and the device was designed to barely leave a mark._ "So we'll know if they split up."

"We should find the others, he beat us easily. Even with your... newly-discovered heritage... we don't put up much of a fight on our own."

Garth nodded in agreement. "I'll give them a call and let them know what's happened. While I do that, let's get moving."

* * *

Ratchet's communicator began to ring, "Hello? Where are you guys? What happened? Alright..." He looked up, "Garth and Kyle are fine and on their way..."

"Well that's good, could use his help with..." Sly started before being interrupted by Ratchet.

"Wait, what happened? Raz? Who's... alright, yeah I'll tell them. Look things took a turn for the worse here too. Yeah, we have Shade and we're pretty sure he's looking to unleash some kind of monster called Kurai Nami, or Shadows... yes like Earth. No we have no lead on where they are. Who took Raz again? An Ekon? Named Kura?"

Mache, Tyra, and Kenovo all turned towards Ratchet and looked at him intensely, most of all Mache did. Their looks made Ratchet quite uneasy, "Yes Garth, we'll see you when you get here." He hung up and looked at them. "What's with the looks?"

"Long story..." Kenovo responded and Mache had a very grim look.

"Do you have a brief version?"

Mache stepped outside, followed by Tyra, as Kenovo sighed. "Yes, Kura is a very dangerous Ekon whose mind was corrupted by an old enemy of ours... he killed Mache's wife and daughter..."

Ratchet's expression dropped a bit, "Oh... so what's he doing here?"

"Probably on the run?" Six answered, "I'm guessing he's not to welcome in your home... realm, universe or whatever you call it."

"Precisely, and he probably ran to Shade for protection."

As they were talking, Garth and Kyle returned. Leo, along with Kenovo and Bryn, then filled them in on what had happened.

Garth rubbed his chin, "So that explains the disappearances of late... Shade's turning them into Kurai?"

Leo nodded, "That's very likely, our problem is finding him."

"We might have a way to do that," Kyle added. "While we fought Kura, both Garth and I managed to place trackers on both Raz and Kura. We need you guys to even stand much of a chance against him."

Garth then looked at Kenovo, "Kura said I was... half Ekon?"

Kenovo nodded in a mundane fashion that didn't seem to treat the revelation with much surprise. While everyone around, save for Kyle, gave looks of either confusion or intrigue.

"You knew didn't you?" Garth responded, "You knew the second you looked at me."

"I did."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Did not think it was my place."

Garth's brow furrowed and he did not look pleased in the least. Bane also didn't look happy either, though he wasn't quite as upset as Garth was.

"Anyways," Torz's voice cut in before anything could happen. The odd lombax Bonded was sitting/crouching as he ate a candy bar. "We have far more pressing issues at hand. For one, we need to track Kura and Raz down, with any luck, they will lead us to the Kurai Nami. Once we have them for sure, we can execute Shade."

Garth held up a small device, "This will lead us right to them."

As Garth spoke, Mache and Tyra came back in and Mache spoke up. "Kura is mine..." His voice held as much venom, anger, and pain as it could. "Who else is coming?"

"Of course I'm coming," Garth stated firmly, "I'm getting Weiss and Raz back..."

"Me too," Bane said with just as much determination as Garth.

"Count me in," Kyle added.

Rance stepped forward, "Count me in, you'll need a good set of eyes and someone good at stealth."

Bryn chuckled, "Same here, Snake, Brick, Luka, we'll go. Slick, Breach, Shooter, you three stay here and help guard the prisoner." His team nodded in agreement with each of their assigned roles.

Leo raised his hand, "I think I'll stay, I know Shade more than anyone here. If he tries anything, I'd be the most likely to notice."

Torz looked up, "It is entirely possible Shade is waiting for there to be less protection for an opening."

Rykk nodded, "That's true, though, I think I'll go after them too."

Sly looked torn at what he should do until Carmelita took his hand. "We should stay here. Make sure Shade doesn't do anything."

He sighed before looking at her, "Yeah... for Murray. He does anything before we find these monsters, I'm putting him down."

Six looked at Michelle and Lance and sighed, "I want to stay and make sure you two are safe..."

Ratchet put a hand on his twin's shoulder, "Then do that, I'll go with them in your place."

"And I'l help guard the prisoner," Kaden added. "Family comes first."

Six smiled and hugged both Ratchet and Kaden, "Thanks you two... so much."

Garth, Bane, Kenovo, Tyra, Mache, Rykk, Bryn, Snake, Brick, Luka, Kyle, Rance, and Ratchet all quickly geared up before heading after Kura.

* * *

Kura landed at the lab with Raz, who was still out, and took him to a cell and locked him in it. Roth was standing nearby as Kura locked Raz up.

"Smooth grab?" Roth asked as they started walking back to their planning room.

"For the most part, some annoyances but nothing I could not handle."

"Think they're tracking you?"

Kura shrugged, "Does it matter?"

"Not really," Roth responded with a sly smirk. "Vause is coming along well. His rapid growth and development is extraordinary. He's already strong enough to take on most anyone in that pesky group. Flint's been teaching and training him furiously for quite a bit and he just absorbs it like a sponge. Don't think he even looks tired."

"That lombax really knows what she is doing I take it? Along with my own contributions to his much faster development anyways."

"Yes, once Garth and Bane are disposed of; then we do the same to her. Not before that, last thing we want to do is enrage both of them."

Kura nodded, "It would seem Garth has some of my kind in him."

Roth raised a brow, "Is that so? How?"

Again, Kura shrugged, "Some Ekon must have come down, disguised themselves as a lombax, and made a child."

"Interesting, so he is a bit more dangerous than we thought?"

"A little, not much though. The big problem is the trio of Ekon siblings. No doubt they know about me being here by now."

"Ah yes..." Roth grinned, "I have my own surprise for them that should even the playing field."

"You are talking about the personal project you requested of Shade?"

"Precisely... I have my targets set as well..." Roth pointed to pictures of Ratchet, Kaden, Lance, Michelle, and Six, with Six's picture being the last. "He killed my son... so I am going after all of them."

Kura smirked and nodded. "Vause should be ready by the time they get here, provided they actually did trace you or Raz."

* * *

Weiss sat in her cell, waiting to hear anything about Raz or Vause. She sighed as she couldn't stop thinking about, not only them, but Garth and Bane. Her feelings and thoughts practically tormented her as she yearned to be free. To be able to make things up with them, as slim a chance as they'd do that, she still desperately wanted to try. She looked up as the door to her cell opened.

"Raz is here," Roth said.

Weiss' eyes lit up as he said those words. "Let me see him!"

Roth nodded, "Sure thing." He then helped her up and led her to Raz's cell. "Believe it or not, I too am a parent, so I understand how you feel."

"I made Vause... what more do you all want?"

Roth looked at her, "We'll need you in case Vause is hurt. Don't worry, you do as we say and you and Raz will be okay." He said as he unlocked Raz's door and handed her a syringe. "He's unconscious, read the label, this will wake him."

Weiss looked it over before being satisfied with its contents. She rubbed Raz's head in a loving manner before she gave him the injection.

"uuh... wha?" Raz said as he yawned.

"Shh... shh... it's okay..."

Raz's eyes lit up upon seeing Weiss. "Momma! Momma!" He quickly embraced her and was beaming. "I've missed you so much!"

Weiss let a few, happy tears fall as they embraced. "I've missed you too baby... it'll be okay..."

* * *

Sly stood in the observation room that looked in on Shade's cell. Slick and Leo both joined him in keeping watch, though it was quite evident Sly's patience was dwindling. It also didn't help that their enemy seemed quite calm about being imprisoned. "He's restrained, collared, and in the most advanced holding cell on this planet, and he doesn't even seem phased..." Sly also held onto Shade's Sai and looked at them with disgust and pain in that they claimed his friend's life.

"Which is even more of a reason we can't kill him yet." Leo responded. "This is quite indicative that he's planned this."

"Meaning he has some kind of escape plan." Slick added.

"Precisely, question is, how? Like you said Sly, from every angle he's covered. I don't see how he could escape."

"Well how about we ask?" Sly suggested before storming into the interrogation room and sitting across from Shade.

"Perplexed about something?"

Sly's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?"

"Excuse me?"

"You planned to get caught... why? What are you scheming?"

"You claim that I am a villain. Yet you could not be further from reality."

"You killed my friend in cold blood!"

"I am so sorry about that. I didn't want to, but I had to."

Sly snarled lightly but tried to keep from exploding. "And why... is that?"

"People need to die for there to be a change."

"What kind of change are you wanting?"

"World peace and unity, isn't that what everyone wants?"

"Depends on how it's done."

Shade nodded, "You like to play chess?"

Sly had to stake a second as the question was unexpected but he smirked lightly. "I do, one second, I'll go get a board."

* * *

Six led his family to a hotel in Velocity that wasn't too far from the prison. They rented a room and got settled as sundown began to occur. The yellow sky began to be lit up with blues, reds, and purples as the sun started to go down. Due to the tiring nature of the day, both Michelle and Six flopped down on the couch and Lance did the same in a chair.

"This day was crazy..." Six stated as he stretched his arms.

"Sounds like it..." Michelle rubbed her belly, "At least we still have this child on the way." She smiled happily and eagerly.

"Aw hehe," Six looked practically giddy.

* * *

Within a short time; Garth, Bane, Kenovo, Tyra, Mache, Rykk, Bryn, Snake, Brick, Luka, Kyle, Rance, and Ratchet all arrived at the compound where Kura's signal came from. It was composed of five, multi-story buildings that were surrounded by a wall. There were armed guards stationed around it and automated turrets and other kinds of defenses.

"How should we do this?" Ratchet asked as he looked over the compound. "You Ekons could probably blast through these guys no issue."

"They should come in after us," Bryn added.

"That sounds good," Garth said, "Rance, Bryn, you two get in quietly and make a big distraction." He looked at the tracker, "Kura and Raz are both in that building." He pointed to it. "So do it away from that building. Here" Garth summoned a grenade-like device. "This should help."

Rance took it, saluted and slipped his mask on, "No problem." He looked at Bryn, "Let's see your old-style stealth."

Bryn chuckled as he and Rance headed out to do their task.

"Ratchet, Brick, Luka, Snake," Garth continued, "You all go around to the far side of the complex and open fire once the explosion happens. Bane, myself, and Rykk will come in from the other side. Once Kura is seen, then you Ekons come in."

"We ought to call you Brains," Luka stated with a grin.

"Indeed," Kenovo agreed, "It is a good strategy."

"Thanks, now let's get into position."

A few minutes later and everyone made it to their positions and they waited for their cue.

After finding a blindspot, Rance fired a line from his Saver into the wall of one of the buildings that over-looked the wall. He put his free arm around Bryn's waist and retracted the line. Bryn forced himself not to yell as they zipped up and over the wall. Rance quickly cut the line once they were over and they landed in an alley between the wall and building.

"Remind me to never do that again!" Bryn whispered in an exasperated tone.

"Don't like heights huh?"

"Not really..."

Rance snickered lightly, "Fine, let's get this done. Just gotta find the right thing to blow up."

The two of them looked around for the right target. They ducked in and out of hiding places and moved in such a way that kept them hidden from the guards. Both were quite limber, flexible, and agile in their movement but they were also silent.

After a few minutes, they came across a storage shed near the back of the compound. It was near the corner opposite to the building that Raz and Kura were in. Getting into the shed was no challenge and the looked to see what was in it.

Both Bryn and Rance grinned as they saw a couple gallons of Atmo fuel.

"Got our exit?" Rance asked as he pulled out the explosive charge Garth had given him.

Bryn opened the door of the shed a crack, just enough to look around before nodding, "...now."

Rance armed the explosive and let it roll against one of the jugs before following Bryn's tail out the door.

The ground shook as the shed erupted into a fiery explosion. The flames were blue due to the fuel and it turned every guard's head.

Ratchet, Brick, Luka, and Snake charged the guards from the far side while they were distracted. They pummeled, stabbed, and shot them. Ratchet used his wrench to pummel or blast any guards near him. Brick used his hammer to smash his way through them, while Luka used a short sword and a pistol in tandem to cut and shoot his way. While Snake mainly used a Vector shotgun too blast a path into the compound.

Bane, Garth, and Rykk attacked from the front. Bane used his telekinesis and energy blasts to take out any guards in his sight. Garth used his silenced pistol a great deal and was quite accurate. Rykk dove into the ground and grabbed guards from underneath and dispatched them with his Alter.

The guards yelled and fought quite hard, but they simply didn't have the power to take them on and the ones patrolling outside the buildings were quickly taken out. Garth rushed over to the building that Raz and Kura's signal came from and kicked in the door. He, Luka, Bryn, Kyle, Rance, and Bane ran in to search for Raz and Weiss. As they ran, he then touched the communicator in his ear, "No sign of Kura, Raz, or Roth yet... you guys see anything?"

"Not yet," Brick responded as he and the rest stood outside the building. "Et's quiet out 'ere now."

"We're looking in the other buildings," Rykk said as he, Snake, and Ratchet broke into a different building.

After a few minutes, Garth, Luka, Rance, Bryn, Kyle and Bane arrived at a cell block and they scanned the area. It was mostly empty, save for a lone figure at the far end opposite them, it was Kura.

* * *

Sly returned to Shade's cell with a board and pieces and set it up. "Why play a game of chess?"

Shade smiled a bit in a welcoming manner, "Because you can tell so much about a person from playing a game with them."

"Do you wish to learn more about me? Or I learn more about you? Because I don't think you need to know more about me."

"There's always more to learn about someone. Besides, I think it will be interesting."

Sly knew Shade was simply playing with him mentally and was tempted to give into his anger. However, his curiosity and desire to possibly see some flaw or see if Shade slips up somehow. "You want white or black?"

"I think black."

Sly nodded and turned the board around, "Your move is first."

Shade thought for a second before taking his turn. "Did it hurt?"

Sly looked at the board and thought what his first move should be. "Did what hurt?" He grabbed a pawn and moved it.

"Being Bonded... did it hurt?" Shade thought for a second before taking his move.

Sly's expression dropped a bit but not too much. "A bit... was more mental than physical." He took his turn.

Shade rubbed his chin as he thought, "Once I heard about Bonded, was curious as to what it's like, your move."

"I see, you know, while we're on this type of subject, what's it like being Kurai or Shadow?" Sly retorted calmly and took his turn.

"It is great, and I just wish everyone could be just as enhanced." Shade said with a wishful tone as he took one of Sly's pawns.

"Shouldn't they have a chance to decide for themselves?" The raccoon asked as he moved one of his knights.

"Progress isn't a choice... nature doesn't care about what you think." Shade slid one of his bishops.

"What you say is progress is simply your opinion, it doesn't mean it's true." Sly responded as he claimed Shade's bishop.

The half-Kurai, half human chuckled, "From every angle I see, the Kurai are the superior to every race and species."

"How so?"

"They don't tear each other apart." Shade took one of Sly's knights with a smirk.

"That's all you have been doing though."

"It's a temporary pain that I do not enjoy to inflict, but once it is gone, everything will be so much better."

"Temporary to you..." Sly said bitterly and glared a bit.

"Quite the contrary, I remember the pain I've inflicted to get this done... and I said, I don't enjoy it."

"Could've fooled me."

Shade didn't respond and the two continued to play quietly for a bit.

* * *

Garth glared and aimed his pistol as those with him got into combat stances. "Where are they?!"

Bane growled and didn't wait for a response, he charged Kura and tried to blast him with his telekinesis.

Kura quickly leapt to the side and threw a quick jab with a concealed blade.

Bane yelped lightly as he evaded the stab, but was lightly nicked on the side.

Kura then shot out his arms and a blue-gold concussive blast knocked Bane back.

Bane snarled and used his abilities to catch himself before he crashed and hovered in the air. He drew a red, energy blade and charged as fast as he could and swung it at Kura's head.

A loud, electric blast rang out as Bane's energy blade collided with another. The blade's silver color would've fooled at first glance that it was made of metal, but it was an energy blade. Vause held the silver-energy sword's curved hilt and shoved Bane's blade back.

Bane tilted his head a bit in confusion, "Who are you?"

Vause stepped in front of Kura and held his blade up. "Why are you here?"

Not being in the mood for a conversation, Bane focused to read Vause's mind. However, he looked perplexed as his mental probe hit a stone wall and he grunted.

Vause smirked and tapped his forehead, "Can't get in here I see? They said you can't do that with my brother either. Well, I suppose you're my brother too aren't you?"

Bane snarled and flew at Vause with his blade and swung it hard and fast.

Vause's blade was fast and his curved hilt allowed him to be quite precise as he parried and slashed at Bane.

Luka and Bryn joined Bane in the attack against Vause with their blades.

Vause was quick and smooth in the fight. His attacks with his blade were interspersed with black bolts of energy or lightning.

Bane yelped in surprise when Vause fired his first bolt of the dark energy. It missed his head by an inch and he began to block Vause's bolts with his own energy.

Rance turned to help them but looked over and saw O'Bannon looking to snipe them. He rolled to the side and fired at O'Bannon as he took cover behind a pylon.

The pylon started to explode as rounds from O'Bannon's rifle hit it.

Garth and Kyle took cover behind a pillar opposite Rance's and returned fire as well. As they joined the fight, so did a bunch of guards. They all started exchanging fire rapidly, orange bolts of Vector rounds flew from both sides and every now and then, a guard would fall. As he was firing, Garth caught eye of Kura running through a door and leaving the fight. He growled and quickly charged in the direction. "Cover me!"

Kyle and Rance nodded and started rapidly firing, forcing O'Bannon and the guards to duck for a short time.

With his window, Garth sprinted after Kura.

* * *

Kura quickly made his way through a back door and into the area Weiss and Raz were in. He glared as he looked over his shoulder at Garth as he sprinted through a doorway. As he ran, the Ekon sent an energy pulse into the door's controls and it shut tight.

Garth yelled and pounded on the door. He briefly examined the control panel but saw that Kura had fried it. So, he took a look at his surroundings to find a different way in.

The Ekon smirked lightly as he quickly got to Raz and Weiss' holding cell. He opened the door and grabbed both of them by the arm. "We're going now."

Weiss yelped and struggled, "Get your hands off of me!"

Raz too wasn't too happy, "Bad man! Let go of mama!" He snarled and bit Kura's hand.

Kura grunted a bit and scowled before smacking Raz across the face. "Blasted furball..."

Raz yelped and whimpered a bit.

"Raz! Here!" Weiss shouted before tossing Raz a small razor blade.

Raz caught the blade and made a straight cut across his fingers. Deep, red blood began to pour from the wound as Raz cut the fingers on his other hand the same way. The blood began to move on its own and formed claws at the tips of his fingers and Raz slashed at Kura's leg.

* * *

As the fighting in the barracks started, Rykk, Ratchet, Snake, and Brick were exploring another building in the compound.

"Let's go help!" Snake shouted as he heard the loud exchange of gunfire and clashes of energy. He turned to leave when Rykk stood still and looked to be listening. "What?"

Rykk's ears turned slightly as he sniffed the air. They stood in the entryway of a warehouse that looked worn by the harsh elements of the world. There was a lot of darkness but rays of light shone through holes in the roof that cut through the blackness.

"Whatcha smell Roikk?" Brick asked as he drew his hammer.

The Bonded's eyes went wide as he grabbed Brick and Snake and flew out the door with them. He also grabbed Ratchet with his Alter and threw him out the door as well. They all yelped from the sudden motion as dark jeers came from the ruined warehouse.

Exploding out of the main entrance like a swarm of insects were dozens of monstrous, humanoid creatures. They all had skin darker than the night sky, pale-white, thin hair (in some cases fur), glowing white irises set in black eyes with blue, glowing, slit-shaped pupils in the center. Their skeletons glowed lightly from underneath their skin. They were Kurai Nami and they swarmed around the frightened trio.

* * *

After a few minutes and moves in silence, Sly looked up at his otherworldly opponent."You know, you were right." Sly made a move that he hoped would soon lead to Shade getting a checkmate.

"What about?"

"You get to learn a lot about a person when playing chess with them."

"What have you learned?" Shade responded as he watched Sly take his move.

"That you never make a move carelessly, that you always have a plan. So I have to ask... why are you here?"

Shade took the piece that Sly hoped he would and Sly made his move. "To have this pleasant conversation and get to know those who oppose me."

"Aren't you worried about, you know, being executed?" Sly took his move, "Checkmate."

Shade smirked, "Nope... as you said..." Moves his rook and simultaneously gets out of check and puts Sly in checkmate. "I always have a plan."

A loud, electrical buzz rang out and everything went dark.

* * *

Kura yelped as Raz slashed as his leg, the cut managed to get some gold blood to appear but wasn't all that serious. The Ekon leapt back and away from Raz as Raz pounced at him. The lombax's fury was something to see, he was like a wild animal as he slashed and snarled at the Ekon.

Shocked by the ferocity of Raz's attacks, Kura was forced on the defensive and backtracked. He dodged and ducked Raz's slashes and threw energy bolts and tried to knock him back with concussive blasts. His defenses bought Kura just enough space to form a pair of swords and he began to parry Raz's blood claws.

As they fought, Weiss looked around desperately to find a weapon to help Raz in his fight. While looking, her gaze fell upon Garth and he wasn't alone. With him stood Kenovo, Mache, and Tyra and they all focused on Kura.

Kenovo lifted his hand and Raz was lifted away from Kura. He kept slashing at Kura furiously even as he was brought close to Weiss. It wasn't until Weiss put her hand on his shoulder did Raz calm.

Upon seeing the other Ekons, Kura's expression dropped, especially when he saw Mache. "N-NO! Stay away from me!" He yelled as he flung a barrage of flame and rock from the walls and floor at his opponents.

Mache silently charged at him as red flames surrounded him and blasted through Kura's attack.

Kura yelped and scrambled to flee.

Garth fired at him with Alacrity rounds as he ran over to Raz and Weiss.

Mache, Tyra, and Kenovo all flew after Kura.

* * *

A knock on the door alerted Six and Michelle and both looked suspicious. Six held his knife's handle as he approached the door. "Who's there?"

His answer came in the form of the door being broken down by a masked figure and the person charged him.

Michelle jumped and ran to Lance's room to protect him.

Six yelped and threw a slash with his knife.

The unknown assailant ducked it and rammed him to the ground.

Six yelped and threw a knee, trying to kick him off.

As the was pushed off, the attacker landed a punch to Six's head, making him grunt. The attacker leapt to his feet and felt Six's foot hit his face as Six both kicked and got up.

"Who are you?!" Six shouted as they stared each other down. The mystery man pulled his mask off and Six snarled loudly.

It was Roth and he grinned widely. "Miss me?"

Six yelled and threw his knife at Roth in the blink of an eye.

The psychopath ducked the blade but was still nicked by the edge. The shallow cut was on his cheek but something else caught Six's eye. Instead of bleeding normally, his blood was white and the sight even made Six feel a bit sick.

Roth reached up and yanked off a mask. While his face was the same shape, his skin was as black as night and he removed the contacts he was wearing. They revealed his Kurai eyes and he grinned widely. "Like my new changes? I think it's more fitting.

"What are you?! You know what? I don't care! I'm gonna kill you!"

"This will be fun! So let's get this party started!" Roth charged Six and fired a black energy blast and both of them were knocked out of the apartment's window.

Six yelled as he and Roth fell six stories onto the street below. The lombax focused and made himself grow. Due to being in the city, he only grew to about twenty feet tall, enough to survive the fall. He also twisted and caught himself from crushing any civilians. He looked up and saw Roth hovering in the air and he snarled at the demonic figure. "I'll crush you!"

"So sure about that?" Roth grinned and began to quickly morph.

Six took a step back, the streets were quickly cleared of civilians the instant Six grew. The angry lombax watched as Roth's form grew and twisted into a dragon-like form. It was only a bit taller than Six, was thicker in muscle and covered in black scales. It had glowing, white eyes and black, energy fangs and horns and spines. It had a longer neck and the beast growled as it looked at Six.

* * *

Rykk, Ratchet, Snake, and Brick all stood up as the mass of Kurai charged them.

Ratchet yelped and swung his wrench at the closest Kurai, hitting it in the head. The Kurai shrieked as it crumpled and its body dissolved until only the skeleton remained. Ratchet swung furiously, spinning and kicking and blasting them with his wrench's energy blast.

Brick was also swinging and smashing any Kurai that got too close. Despite his huge size, the lombax was quite fast and agile, dodging multiple bolts of energy.

Rykk used his Alter to dive in and out of the ground as he slashed them with his claws. He also used his Bonded energy to hurl rocks and boulders at them. He also did the most to protect the three others from the Kurai's black energy bolts.

Snake held a short-sword in one hand and a sawed-off shotgun in his other. He would rapidly alternate from blasting them with Vector rounds and slashing them with his sword.

The four of them stood together and started to whittle down the numbers of the Kurai. The demonic beasts swirled around them like angry insects, looking for any opening to cut, blast, or burn. Their jeers, shrieks, and other inhuman sounds echoed as they attacked and were killed.

In a matter of minutes, the fifty or so Kurai were reduced to a pile of bones. Brick, Snake, and Ratchet were all breathing hard and looked both relieved and terrified.

"That... was the Kurai?" Snake asked as he loaded his gun.

"They looked... quite... fearsome..." Ratchet stated as he tried to catch his breath. "But we... got them..."

"Dat was too easy though... Oi mean, ef tey're all loike dat, den et's a good ting."

"But they're not..." Rykk responded. "One of two things happened here, one, we stumbled upon a group that was meant to infiltrate a city and turn it. Or this was a distraction."

"Let's get to the barracks," Snake said and the others agreed.

* * *

Sly groaned as he realized he was on the ground and had no idea how he got there. He looked around and shakily got up as his head was throbbing and he felt a rush of pain. He yelped as the pain came from his shoulder and he was knocked back. He quickly came to realize that Shade has the blade of his Sai jammed into his shoulder and threw him against the wall. The raccoon came to and managed to teleport a short distance away. He summoned his cane and, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he got in a combat stance.

The entire holding cell was dark, Shade's collar lay on the ground and devoid of any power. The immediate area looked to have been blasted apart and charred. Guard lay on the ground, most were dead though some were just wounded or unconscious. Carmelita and Shooter were laying on the ground and was obvious that they had been knocked-out.

Shade twirled his Sai as he looked at Sly. "Ah, I see you just got up." He quickly flicked his wrist and one of his Sai flew at Sly.

The raccoon's staff was quick and knocked the Sai aside. Though, Shade just shot out a thin, energy tether that retrieved his weapon.

Sly's foe charged with a cool precision and started throwing rapid slashes and jabs. Shade danced around Sly, trying to inflict as many wounds as possible.

Sly's adrenaline was rushing as he quickly parried and/or dodged Shade's attacks. He also tried to teleport around, though the area wasn't that big so he could only teleport so much.

However, Sly was worn and the wound on his shoulder slowly drained him. It was quite evident that Shade was toying with him as Sly began to slow. He began to feel dizzy from the loss of blood and being blasted back. He growled as his rage and adrenaline fought the slowly lowering blood levels in his body.

Shade was in much better condition and got his opening. He threw his Sai and Sly yelled as the blade embedded itself in his chest and he felt his lung deflate. Sly gasped for breath and collapsed. He looked up as Shade approached him and yanked the Sai from his torso and he gasped even louder.

"You were quite good in our little game of chess. I have to concede that..." Shade said in a passive-aggressive manner. "Still, needed to buy some time. Alas, our time is over and I must go... can't have you coming around and causing problems." Shade raised his to deliver the killing blow.

Sly winced a bit and glared into Shade's inhuman eyes as he waited for it.

It didn't come, Shade instead flung both of his Sai. This was in response to Leo, Kaden, Breach, and Shooter all storming in. Leo had drawn his short sword and parried one of the Sai.

Kaden ducked the other and started firing his pistol.

Breach had drawn his shotgun and tried to fire at Shade as well.

Shade leapt up off of a wall, evading their shots, and flung small, but a fast series of black bolts.

Leo grunted as he formed a purple energy shield that blocked most of the bolts.

Yells from Kaden rang out as one of Shade's bolts struck his upper leg and he fell backwards.

Breach yelled and kept firing his shotgun as Leo swung his sword at their enemy.

Shade parried Leo's sword and at the same time ducked Breach's gun. He shot his arm at Breach's torso and multiple tendrils of black lightning coursed into Breach's body.

Breach shrieked as the torturous lighting pushed through him and he was shot back into the wall.

In turn, Leo shot dozens of small, energy bullets from his palms in a similar fashion to a shotgun blast. He quickly followed it up with multiple slashes and strikes.

Shade was forced on the defensive for a short time from Leo's attacks. Leo's combat style was the most similar to Shade's and Leo had history with Shade so he managed to put up a bit of a better fight. He managed to hold his own long enough for Torz to run in and join.

The lombax Bonded had a cut on his head, evidently he had been knocked out and had came to. Torz held onto what looked to be a metal cane with the hooked grip. He swung and twirled it quite quickly and his fighting method threw Shade off a bit.

Not wanting to stick around, Shade started to go more on the defensive as he looked for an escape path.

* * *

Rykk, Snake, Ratchet, and Brick rejoined the others in the bunker. They looked over and saw Rance, Kyle, Garth, Weiss, and Raz. The firefight with O'Bannon had ended as O'Bannon had fled. In the course of the fight, Kyle had taken a hit to his shoulder and Rance was fixing him up. Garth had taken a hit and had been grazed, though he had been too focused on Raz and Weiss to notice. Weiss was patching his wounds when Ratchet and the others had returned.

Boon and Vause's fight had driven them into a different part of the barracks and their fight could be heard in the distance.

"We need to go!" Ratchet said as he helped Rance. "We just fought off a bunch of Kurai and we need to make sure there's no more!"

"We also need to alert the cities," The Law Man said after he finished working on Kyle's arm.

"Everyone, pile into my Atmo!" Garth exclaimed and they headed out.

As they took off, Rance tried out the radio but a flash of worry crossed his face. "Got no signal..."

"We are in a remote place, wait until we're a bit closer." Garth advised as the engines revved up and the craft took off.

* * *

The fight between Leo, Torz, and Shade had led outside the holding building. All three were moving acrobatically, bouncing off of walls, slashing, jabbing, and parrying each other's blows.

Leo yelped and whimpered as he found Shade's Sai embedded in his lower chest. Blood began to pour from the wound and Leo groaned as Shade kicked him off of his blade. Leo tumbled and crumpled to ground in a pool of blood.

The half-Kurai then leapt up onto a tall ledge out of Torz's reach. "You all have a choice... convert into a Kurai... or die!" Shade roared as hundreds of Kurai flooded into Velocity. Civilians yelled in terror as they were shot with bolts of energy and almost instantly transformed into Kurai.

* * *

_T.S. Eliot wrote:_

_"Between the desire and the spasm, between the potency and the existence, between the essence and the descent, falls the shadow. This is the way the world ends."_

_Hey guys, hope you liked Alter and let me know what parts you didn't like._

_Don't worry, this isn't the end. I'm planning on continuing it in the next story._

_For now though, think I'm gonna work on, and finish up Ebony and Informer but stay tuned for more!_


End file.
